Cuba confirms maritime progress

Cuba confirms maritime progress
Greg Miller
23 October 2015

Even before the US embargo is lifted, Cuba is pursuing an aggressive
development plan for its shipping and port sectors, according to a
representative of the country's transport ministry.

"We have started the recovery of our fleet, our ports and our logistics
chain," affirmed Pedro Suarez Reyes, international relations specialist
at the Cuban Ministry of Transport.

"We are also working on a multilateral maritime transportation policy
that will achieve our vision of what can be done from our geographic
position," he told attendees of the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA)
conference, held in Cartagena, Colombia on 19-21 October.

The new policy will complement legislative changes enacted in July 2013,
when the Cuban Congress approved a new maritime and riverine navigation
code, supplanting an outdated circa-1985 law.

Cuba is currently focused on rebuilding a domestic fleet that was "hard
hit" by the past decades' economic crisis, said Suarez. At the Damen
shipyard in Santiago de Cuba, newbuilds of up to 100 m in length are
being constructed to renew the domestic fleet, including tugboats and
ro-ros. The new vessels are being used in the riverine and coastal
trades and more vessels will be built "in the near future", he said,
adding that domestic tonnage also serves export trades to nearby islands.

Simultaneously, the country is focused on a "transformation" of its port
sector, which has been plagued by "obsolete infrastructure, especially
lifting equipment" that was not properly maintained, said Suarez.

The focal point of port development has been the container facility in
Mariel, which opened in January 2014 and is operated by PSA. Suarez
emphasised that Mariel is being developed as an economic hub, with a
focus on promoting Mariel's special development zone via tax breaks and
other incentives.

He acknowledged that there have been growing pains for the terminal.
"Beginning anything is difficult and we are beginning at Mariel," he
said. "It is precisely the cultural changes needed for efficiency that
will be most difficult, but you can be certain they will be done, and in
the least possible time."

Mariel, which is on the island's northwest coast, serves the island's
domestic trades. There has been speculation that a port focused on
transhipment could eventually be developed on the southeast coast,
adjacent to the liner route that connects the Panama Canal with the US
east coast. Asked about this possibility, Suarez told IHS Maritime, "If
we want to have a hub from which we could distribute goods to the rest
of the Caribbean and the world, that is not operative yet, but it is
within future plans."

He also confirmed that port developments were already underway elsewhere
in Cuba, citing construction of a multipurpose terminal in Santiago de
Cuba. "Investments are being made everywhere they can be done," he said.

Terminals will also be built for the cruise sector. Because a tunnel
crosses underneath the Havana channel, larger cruise ships will not be
able to use the existing Havana cruise terminal. "The ships are so large
that we need to find a new location and develop infrastructure to
receive these cruise ships," he said.

IHS Maritime asked Suarez about Cuba's cruise policy and in particular,
about the head tax (tax per passenger) to be charged. "As far as the tax
that is going to be imposed, I cannot disclose that," he responded. "We
are working on implementing the maritime and port development policy and
with regards to the ferry industry, we are evaluating in detail which
company is making the best offer."

Whether it is the passenger or commercial shipping sector, Suarez
stressed that Cuba is not attempting to take market share from other
islands. "Cuba aspires and will do everything within its power to
continue as one more player on the team, not someone who will make
things more difficult. We will strengthen our competitive strategy and
when I say 'our', I'm referring to the greater Caribbean."

To contact the author of this article, email Greg.Miller@ihs.com

Source: Cuba confirms maritime progress - IHS Maritime 360 -
http://www.ihsmaritime360.com/article/19657/cuba-confirms-maritime-progress