Seatrade-Maritime: Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM suspend Cuba shipments

Published by Seatrade-Maritime

In the face of US ratcheting up sanctions on Cuba two major container lines have suspended shipments to the country.

On 1 May US President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order increasing sanctions on Cuba.

The Executive Order said it would freeze the assets of entities that, “operate in or have operated in the energy, defense and related materiel, metals and mining, financial services, or security sector of the Cuban economy, or any other sector of the Cuban economy, as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State”.

While the shipping sector is not explicitly named the spectre of non-compliance has seen both Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM suspending shipments to the Latin America country.

“Hapag-Lloyd has temporarily suspended acceptance of new bookings to and from Cuba. We are currently assessing the situation to determine whether, and under which conditions, services to and from Cuba may continue in the future,” the German line said in a customer advisory.

Reuters reported French container line CMA CGM as saying in a statement: “Following the US Executive ⁠Order issued on May 1, CMA CGM has decided to suspend its bookings to or from Cuba until further notice.”