In Boost to Trade, Cuba Welcomes First U.S. Cargo Vessel in 40 Years

The American flag was hoisted briefly over the entrance to Havana Bay on Friday for the first arrival in four decades of a U.S.-registered cargo vessel, another step in the growing trade with Cuba.

The barge, towed by a tug from Chickasaw, Ala., unloaded 1,614 tons of newsprint and 6 tons of timber in Havana.

“We look forward to returning on a regular basis, at least once a month,” said Jack Maybank, president of Maybank Shipping Co. of Charleston, S.C., owner of the barge. Maybank has a deal with Cuba to ship 10,000 tons of paper made in the U.S. by Canada-based Abitibi-Consolidated Inc., one of the world’s largest newsprint makers.

Washington eased trade sanctions on President Fidel Castro’s government more than two years ago to allow the sale of food and other agricultural products, including timber and paper. The U.S. had slapped an embargo on Cuba and severed diplomatic ties after Castro’s leftist revolution in 1959.

Since December 2001, Cuba has bought $480 million worth of U.S. grains and food products that have been shipped mostly by Jacksonville, Fla.-based Crowley Liner Services using foreign-flagged vessels.