South East Shipping News

Good signs for Caribbean Trade

Crowley, SeaFreight and Lannaman & Morris to Hold First Forum for Jamaica Growers and Exporters

By: AJOT | May 06 2016 at 07:17 AM | Breakbulk & Projects  

Kingston, Jamaica - To better serve the diverse needs of growers and exporters across Jamaica, Crowley is teaming up with subsidiary SeaFreight, and on-island shipping agent Lannaman & Morris, to hold an educational breakfast forum on Thursday, May 12 at 8:00 a.m. at Terra Nova All Suites Hotel in Kingston.

The event will feature a presentation from Christopher Prendergast, supervisor/agricultural specialist, United States Department of Agriculture Jamaica Preclearance Program, regarding procedures related to northbound shipments of agricultural goods to the U.S. Those interested in attending this free event are asked to RSVP to Stacia Nosworthy-Cunningham at 876-923-5541 or [email protected].

Additionally, representatives of Crowley companies Customized Brokers, which specializes in customs clearance of all U.S. imports; CrowleyFresh, which offers cold-chain storage and logistics; and SeaFreight, which offers scalable liner and logistics solutions in the Caribbean and Central America, will be on-hand to discuss the full complement of the company’s complete supply chain solutions.

“We at Crowley are uniquely positioned to add value to our customers’ supply chains by both increasing the velocity of those supply chains with our integrated services, and in doing so, reducing their total landed cost,” said Mark Kearns, director, logistics operations. “This forum in Jamaica and other discussions like it, with both current and potential customers, is all about that proven value proposition.”

Amazon plans to use container ships as DCs, and deliver directly by drone... ooops what about Customs

By Gavin van Marle 01/04/2016
Amazon is building on its recent entry into ocean freight forwarding with plans to invest billions of dollars in its own container shipping fleet.

It is seeking new economies of scale in every area of its international supply chain.

A person who was familiar with a person familiar with the matter, told The Loadstar that Amazon was now developing a strategy of not just controlling the entire end-to-end of its supply chain, but every other supply chain too.

“What Jeff Bezos has worked out is that if Amazon delivers absolutely everything in the world, then it really doesn’t matter what the cost of shipping will be – we’ll all have to pay it.

“What he’s trying to do is consolidate the freight buyer’s market to just one: Amazon. Walmart is a target; Home Depot is a target; Target even admits it’s a target, by calling itself a target.

“That’s the beauty of disruptive technology – Bezos is using Amazon’s cutting-edge tech to become the world’s first retail oligopoly, integrated into an oligopsony – and no one realises that’s happening; right under their very noses,” he allegedly said.

“Acquiring ships is the final part of that strategy. Amazon’s advanced predictive data has outlined that, with so much overcapacity in the global container shipping fleet, we should buy all of the world’s containerised consumer goods and store them on the vessels – there’s certainly enough spare space.”

According to Amazon insiders, the company’s supply chain eggheads are also drawing up a new operating model that could see container vessels anchoring off the coast of large consumer centres – such as the San Pedro Bay, Hudson River or English Channel – and using drones to deliver directly from ship to consumers.

This would cut out the need to use congested container ports, troublesome truckers and fractious freight forwarders, as well as redefining the concept of “near-shoring”.

“Owning our own ships also means we can offer ourselves slow-steaming or express container services; and in fact, our developers are now working on the concept of a ship that can steam slow and fast simultaneously – depending on whether customers are “Prime” members.”

Amazon investors are understood to be backing the strategy, and are braced for between two and three decades of excoriating losses.

“After all, that’s no longer than the container lines have been swimming in red ink and because of its edge in tech, no one can play the zero-sum game as well as Amazon,” the source told The Loadstar.

He added that non-containerised consumer goods, such as luxury cars and super-yachts, the big bucks stuff that the hoi polloi can look at in Amazon-delivered glossy magazines, are reserved for Mr Bezos and his friends.

Miami Airport gets CEIV certified, with ambitions for global pharma hub status

By Alex Lennane in Miami
11.05.2015 •

The air cargo community, led by airports, are taking matters into their own hands to encourage greater use of the mode by pharma shippers.
Yesterday, Miami airport became the second globally, and the first in the Americas, to achieve CEIV pharma certification. In a noisy press event at Air and Sea Cargo Americas in Miami, the airport noted huge growth in its pharma business and its plans to become a leading global pharma hub.

The state of Florida sponsored the certification, hoping to catch a share of the $300bn pharma market. The airport last year saw $3.3bn-worth of pharma pass through the airport – 80% growth since 2010.
The pharmaceuticals business in Latin America is growing, with new markets developing, in particular in Colombia.
“Cargo was flat globally in 2014, and we grew,” said Emilio Gonzalez, CEO of Miami-Dade Aviation Department. “I think we’ll do just fine this year but we have to move beyond flowers and fish. We have indentified the pharma business, and we are turning into the perfect transhipment centre.”
Steven Polmans, cargo head at Brussels Airport, the first to be certified, urged more airports to become CEIV certified.
“We didn’t do it for competitive advantage. We want to grow the whole pie,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of the event.
“We see that shippers are getting more involved in the logistics supply chain, including which airline or airport to choose. We want pharma shippers to see that we have a high-quality service for pharmaceuticals to the benefit of the whole air cargo industry.”
Global Distribution Practice certification varies around the world and is mostly intended for warehousing and storage, while CEIV, which is IATA-validated, is a standardised programme, focused specifically on air cargo logistics.
“GDP is only legislation for basic requirements. It doesn’t audit the pharmaceutical chain. CEIV has everything GDP requires, but so much more.”
While the necessary training and infrastructure can be costly – making it uneconomic for airports with naturally small pharma flows – those with existing flows and training programmes would find it better value. Re-tests are required every three years.
More CEIV companies are expected to be announced in coming months.
“It started slowly but more large companies are coming on board, and it’s picking up speed. Pharma shippers are pleased with it and it will grow the whole air cargo pie,” added Mr Polmans.
He said cargo volumes at Brussels had shot up since it became certified. “Shippers were tired of air cargo – there was too much mishandling.”
One pharma shipper had found that 63% of its shipments had seen a temperature variation over the summer months.”That’s just gambling,” said Mr Polmans.
IATA’s regional vice president Americas said that pharma shipment damages amounted to $12bn last year.
“This is unacceptable for a $300bn market. CEIV improves the quality and reduces the losses from mishandled goods.”
Mr Polmans added: “We are a very fragmented industry and that’s part of the reason we are not making sufficient progress. I want to be an airport, and a person, that’s acting for the benefit of air cargo. I don’t want to be commenting from the stadium – I want to be the coach, and have some influence over the game.”

From where will they sail?

 

Cuba cruise and ferry services get a little nearer

New regulations would allow Carnival's fathom brand to use Adonia as a floating base while in Cuba

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 — Obstacles facing cruise lines and ferry operators seeking to offer services from the the U.S. to Cuba continue to lessen. Today, the U.S. announced a slew of further changes to the restrictions imposed by the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

 

They will take effect on Monday, September 21, 2015, when they are published in the Federal Register. Coincidentally, or probaby not, that's the day before Pope Francis arrives in Washington, DC, from Cuba.

The Pope is widely credited with initiating the dialogue that led to the new direction in U.S.-Cuba relationship.

A fact sheet issued by the the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Commerce includes the following regulatory changes:

• Transportation by vessel of authorized travelers – between the United States and Cuba only and without stops in third countries – will be authorized by general license. Certain related lodging services aboard vessels used for such travel will also be authorized.
• License Exception Aircraft, Vessels, and Spacecraft (AVS) will authorize temporary sojourns to Cuba of certain categories of vessels. Eligible categories of vessels are cargo vessels for hire for use in the transportation of items; passenger vessels for hire for use in the transportation of passengers and/or items; and recreational vessels that are used in connection with travel authorized by the Treasury.
• License Exception AVS will authorize aircraft on temporary sojourn to remain in Cuba for up to 7 consecutive days and authorizes vessels on temporary sojourn to remain in Cuba for up to 14 consecutive days.

While there's no explanation as to how spacecraft got in there, the "temporary sojourn" authorization should be particularly useful to Carnival Corporation's start up brand fathom. It intends offering cultural exchange voyages to Cuba starting in May 2016, using the 704 passenger cruise ship as a "comfortable home base" during travelers stay on the island.

Cruise lines and ferry operators are now waiting for the Cuban permissions needed to initiate service.

Read the Treasury backgrounder HERE

 

This will be heavy

 

Industry fears law on container weight verification could bring cargo chaos

By Gavin van Marle

09.15.2015 · Posted in Land, Loadstar posts, Sea Add to favorites

Shippers, forwarders, shipping lines and container terminals “urgently” need to begin discussions over the practicalities of implementing the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) new regulation on container weights.

That was one of the chief conclusions of Friday’s International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (ICHCA) seminar on container weighing in London, with some delegates warning that the legislation, due on 1 July 2016, could lead to chaos.

The new requirements, formally an amendment to the IMO’s existing Safety of Life at Sea (Solas) regulations, have been designed to reduce the number of accidents globally caused by containers whose weights have been misdeclared by shippers and their agents.

The new law says they must verify the weight declared on the bill of lading. It has been criticised as difficult to enforce, while many sea freight buyers are said to be completely unaware of the legislation.

From next summer, shippers will have to prove the weight of their containers through one of two methods: weighing the loaded container (Method 1); or weighing the cargo and adding the tare weight of the container (Method 2).

Richard Brough, ICHCA technical advisor, said: “There is no exemption from weighing in some form – if you are a Method 2 shipper, you will still have to weigh the cargo, the calculation aspect comes from adding the cargo weight with the tare weight of the container.”

Washington-based liner shipping lobby group the World Shipping Council (WSC) was one of the proponents of the new legislation. It initially insisted on Method 1, but later acquiesced to shipper arguments, led by the Global Shippers Forum, that Method 2 would provide the same level of assurance to ships’ masters, ultimately be responsible for accepting or rejecting containers waiting to be loaded.

However, it will remain up to national jurisdictions to decide if they will accept both methods, and WSC senior vice president Lars Kjaer said the US had already decided it will only accept Method 1 as proof of the verified gross mass (VGM) of a container.

“But, come 1 July next year, there will be containers showing up at the gate without signed verification forms – so how do we manage that? What do we do with those boxes? The whole operational side needs to be discussed and sorted out,” he said.

In contrast, the UK’s enforcement body, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA), has said it will accept Method 2, and has begun developing an accreditation scheme for UK shippers in concert with the Freight Transport Association (FTA).

MCA hazardous cargo advisor Keith Bradley said it was “essential that we make Method 2 work”, as with the right process it could be much more efficient.

“Many members involved in the UK’s maritime trade are already operating to a variety of standards, such as AEO or ISO9000, and many companies have enterprise resource systems (ERPs) such as SAP that means they will know the weight of their cargo.

“We have also had a very clear message from the port industry that it does not have the weighing equipment, nor does it want to invest in it. But ports have to consider what they are going to do if a box arrives at the port without a VGM,” he said.

UK shippers will need to apply for accreditation to Method 2, with the MCA set to audit applications. FTA director of global and European Policy Chris Welsh said the organisation would be launching a service to help its members with applying for accreditation.

However, John Foord, president designate of the Federation of National Associations of Ship Brokers and Agents, questioned the viability of this approach, given the increasingly tight timeframe.

“It will be interesting to know if the 14,000 FTA members will all be accredited by 1 July 2016… I suspect that simply can’t happen, which means lots of UK exporters will have to use weighbridges.  But there isn’t a weighbridge near Felixstowe, for example, and there could be a significant deviations on road journeys to go via a weighbridge on the way to a port.

“There really could be a lot of deviation,” Mr Foord added, “and some of the shipping lines charge shippers £2 per mile. I can see shipper easily having to an extra £50-60 per container just because of this issue.”

Peruvian fruit heading to more Florida ports

                           

 Lima, Sep. 13. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the Cold Treatment Protocol required for the entry of fresh citrus fruits, blueberries and grapes from Peru by including three new Florida State ports starting October 1, Peru's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism informed after learning the USDA's decision through its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). 

The three new ports areJacksonville, Tampa and Manatee.

It should be noted this request was approved since the pilot program for the entry of grapes and blueberries was accepted by the end of 2013, and that for Peruvian citrus fruits in 2014 throughMiami and Fort Lauderdale (Florida), as well as Savannah harbor (Georgia).

According to the Peruvian Trade Office inMiami (OCEX Miami), the standards established by APHIS require the fresh fruits to enter the USA through ports located above the 39° latitude. 

However, the Cold Treatment Project was aimed at allowing the entry of fresh and perishable products into theUSA's market through Southern ports. Considering this, it would be possible to reduce the shipping time and final costs to be assumed by the consumer as well as to preserve the products.

Through OCEX Miami, Mincetur has boosted the Cold Treatment Protocol before it was launched in 2012. Likewise, it continuously supports the work undertaken byMiami's Port officials, industry leaders, State and federal representatives, such as the U.S. Agriculture Department, Customs and Florida Perishable Trade Coalition. 

The exports of Peruvian grapes to theUnited States increased by 65% between January and July, 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. 

Florida gets its drop in the barrel from FEMA

 

The US Federal Emergency Protection Agency (FEMA) has announced the FY 2015 Port Security Grant Program (PSGP) awards.

The PSGP provides $100,000,000 for transportation infrastructure security activities to implement Area Maritime Transportation Security Plans (AMSPs) and facility security plans among port authorities, facility operators, and state and local government agencies required to provide port security services.

The purpose of the FY 2015 PSGP is to competitively award grant funding to support increased port-wide risk management; enhance domain awareness; conduct training and exercises; expand port recovery and resiliency capabilities; further capabilities to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from attacks involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other non-conventional weapons.

These activities will assist ports in the implementation of the National Preparedness System by supporting the building, sustainment, and delivery of core capabilities essential to achieving the Goal of a secure and resilient Nation.

 

Out of the total of $100,000 available nation-wide, Florida’s Port Security Grant programs secured about $5 million. The grantees are:

 

Fort Pierce St. Lucie County $325,633

JacksonvilleCity of Jacksonville / Jacksonville Sheriff's Office $35,512 JacksonvillePort Authority $1,050,000

NassauCountyBoard of CountyCommissioners $27,755

St. Johns County Fire Rescue $420,000 Tynda Holdings, LLC $39,000

Key West City of Key WestPort $99,475

MiamiFlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) $173,241 Miami River Marine Group $657,324

Miami-DadeCounty $153,938

Port Canaveral Canaveral Port Authority $675,675

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) $173,241

Port Everglades Broward CountyBoard of CountyCommissioners $1,265,887 BrowardCounty Sheriff's Office $131,376

City of Fort Lauderdale $874,312

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) $173,241

TampaBayHillsboroughCounty Sheriff's Office $57,500

ManateeCountyPort Authority $326,250

TampaPort Authority $1,609,440

Canaveral's new terminal Gulftainer challenged in right wing press

 

Senior Official: Gulftainer Shipping Weapons to Iranian-Backed Terrorists In Iraq

·                         Published on Sunday, 31 May 201508:40

Written by Alan Jones

Alan Jones | 1776 Channel

Gulftainer shipping weapons to Iranian-backed terrorists in Iraq: Former senior official for coalition embassy in Iraq cites Iraq port authority officials’ leak to Iraqi media

 (1776 Channel) Gulftainer, the UAE container terminal operator that was recently awarded a 35-year lease at strategically-important Port Canaveral, FL, adjacent to a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine base and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, has allegedly been shipping weapons through the Port of Umm Qasr to two Iranian-backed terrorist militia groups in Iraq, the Badr Brigades and Asaeib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), according to a leak from Iraq General Port Company officials in Basra to Iraqi media.

    “AAH is an Iranian-backed Shiite militant group that split from Moqtada al-Sadr’s Jaish al-Mahdi (JAM) in 2006. Since that time, AAH has conducted thousands of lethal explosively formed penetrator (EFP) attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces, targeted kidnappings of Westerners, rocket and mortar attacks on the U.S. Embassy, the murder of American soldiers, and the assassination of Iraqi officials”. – Institute of the Study of War

Ads by Adblade

The Iraq General Port Company, part of the Iraq Ministry of Transport, is the embattled nation’s port authority.

UMM QASR PORT, IRAQ, Iraq General Port Company administrative offices.

 A former senior official with a coalition embassy in Iraq has confirmed to 1776 Channel that the report, which was published in Arabic by electronic newspaper Al-aalem Al-jadeed on February 10, 2015, charges that Gulftainer is moving weapons to terrorist groups the Badr Brigades and Asaeib Ahl al-Haq (AAH).

Al-aalem Al-jadeed describes itself as an “electronic newspaper free from influence of partisan and sectarian and owners.”

Gulftainer’s 35-year lease with Port Canaveral was negotiated in secret and then approved by the Obama Administration, without a national security review, despite Port Canaveral’s strategic location and it’s extreme proximity to some of the U.S. government’s most sensitive space and defense installations.

SEE RELATED STORY: America’s strategic infrastructure compromised: Did Clinton pay-to-play arrangement hand over port container operations inside national security nexus to wealthy foreign associates?

Gulftainer operates the Iraq Container Terminal inside Iraq’s deep-water UmmQasrPort, located on the Persian Gulf near Kuwait.

 

PHOTO ABOVE from this SOURCE and Google Translate to English is HERE, and Kolff Tinner is Gulftainer

The Badr Brigades and Asaeib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) are backed by Iran’s extremist Islamic regime.

Both Shiite militant groups are listed as terrorist organizations by the UAE government, according to the report.

Privately-owned Gulftainer and its corporate parent the Crescent Group are based in the UAE.

Hadi Al-Ameri leads the Badr Organization, a Shiite political faction in Iraq associated with the Badr Brigades. Al-Ameri is the former Iraq Transport Minister, and likely has deep connections with port officials and shipping companies.

Gulftainer’s shadowy deal with Port Canaveral

As reported earlier by 1776 Channel, Gulftainer’s new GT USA division plans to begin operations next month in Port Canaveral, FL near sensitive U.S. national security installations including a U.S. Navy submarine base and NASA’s KennedySpaceCenter.

Map of Port Canaveral, Florida showing Gulftainer’s area of operations, US Navy Trident submarine base and Canaveral Air Force Station.

Gulftainer’s 35-year lease at Port Canaveral, secretly negotiated by Canaveral officials under code name ‘Project Pelican’, was approved without a national security review by Treasury Secretary Jacob ‘Jack’ Lew, a long-time associate of former President Bill Clinton.

It is unclear if Treasury Secretary Lew, the Department of Commerce or other officials within the Obama administration accessed any intelligence reports indicating that Gulftainer was possibly involved in trafficking weapons to Iranian-backed terrorist militias in Iraq. U.S. officials decided that Gulftainer should not be subjected to a national security review before commencing operations at Port Canaveral.

Gulftainer previously attempted to secure a lease at the Port of Jacksonville (JAXPORT), close to NavalSubmarineBaseKingsBay and Naval Air Station Jacksonville, but was abruptly rebuffed by Port of Jacksonville officials.

Bill Clinton met last summer with Malik Jafar, a member of the family that owns Gulftainer and who is also a top executive at Crescent, the parent company of Gulftainer.

Although the official business of the meeting between former President Clinton and Jafar concerned the Business Backs Education Foundation, the two men met during the same time period in which Gulftainer and Port Canaveral officials were secretly negotiating Project Pelican. 1776 Channel reported on that meeting and the possibility that Clinton engaged Gulftainer in a pay-to-play arrangement to secure Department of Treasury approval for the deal.

SOURCE: 1776 Channel

Alan Jones is an investigative journalist who published a series of groundbreaking stories at the Washington Times Communities. Several of those stories were subsequently covered by other media outlets, including World Net Daily, Infowars, Daily Caller, and New American

 

Every man for herself as FEMA announces $100 million port security grant scramble

About $100 million will be available to various port authorities, facility operators, and state and local government agencies who have developed an Area Maritime Security Plan as part of the 2015 FEMA port security grant program

 Eligibility Criteria is established pursuant to the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, as amended (MTSA) wherein DHS established a risk-based grant program to support maritime security risk management.

 This year funding is directed towards the implementation of AMSPs and Facility Security Plans (FSP) among port authorities, facility operators, and state and local government agencies that are required to provide port security services.

 Application Submission Deadline: May 19, 2015 at 11:59 PM EDT

 In administering the grant program, national, economic, energy, and strategic defense concerns based upon the most current risk assessments available will be considered. 

 This year there will be no Port Area Group Designations. Instead, all Port Areas will be selected for funding through the FY 2015 PSGP competitive review process. 

For the most part those who were eligible to apply in 2014 will be eligible this year except “Applications for the purpose of providing a service, product, project, or investment justifications (IJ) on behalf of another entity such as sub-recipients or a consortia are ineligible for funding. Applications will only be accepted and considered for funding from direct recipients.”

 (so let us know if you need a hand)

Only one (1) application per eligible entity within each Port Area is permitted. Each application may contain multiple IJs. An investment justification supports the funding of a proposed project. The location where the project is primarily implemented is considered the Port Area of the application. Applicants with facilities in multiple Port Areas may submit one (1) application per Port Area. Since program funding is risk based by Port Area, no single application should include investment justifications for projects intended to be implemented in multiple Port Areas. For example, state entities that operate in multiple Port Areas within the state must submit separate applications to fund projects in each of these Port Areas.

 

Cost Share or Match

 

 There is a Cost-Match requirement for this program. All PSGP award recipients must provide a non-Federal match (cash or in-kind) supporting at least 25 percent of the total project cost for each proposed project. Exceptions to the cost match requirement may apply. Please see Appendix B – PSGP Funding Guidelines for details. The non-Federal share can be cash or in-kind, with the exception of construction activities, which must be a cash-match (hard).

 

The steps involved in applying for an award under this program are:

1. Applying for, updating or verifying their DUNS Number;

2. Applying for, updating or verifying their EIN Number;

3. Updating or verifying their SAM Number;

4. Establishing an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) in Grants.gov;

5. Submitting an initial application in Grants.gov; and

6. Submitting the complete application in ND Grants.

NOTE: If you are going to apply for this funding opportunity and have not obtained a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and/or are not currently registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), please take immediate action to obtain a DUNS Number, if applicable, and then to register immediately in SAM. It may take 4 weeks or more after you submit your SAM registration before your registration is active in SAM, then an additional 24 hours for Grants.gov to recognize your information. Information on obtaining a DUNS number and registering in SAM is available from Grants.gov at: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/applicant-resources.html

 

 

 

Dozens of dreamers lining up for ferry permits to Cuba

 

Brian Hall has a Cuba Dream. He’s named it “CubaKat,” all part of his business plan to revive the once popular ferry service from Florida to Cuba.

Back in the 50s, before Fidel Castro’s revolution and the resulting U.S. embargo on the communist island, taking ferries from Key West to Havana was a daily option for American tourists.

Hall has already purchased one catamaran in the Bahamas, planning to ferry Americans from a marina in Marathon, in the Florida Keys, to Cuba. The trip would take less than 4 hours.

"The Cuban side — they have done nothing but open their arms,” he said. "They want us to come so bad. It's like the Berlin Wall has fallen and they're begging for us to come."

Hall and half a dozen other American entrepreneurs have begun applying with the U.S. Treasury Department for future licenses to put American tourists willing to pay upwards of $300 onto catamarans and ships for the 90 mile journey through the Florida Straits.

So far, the Treasury Department is making no public comment about a timeline — when or even if ferry service will resume, but these would-be ferry operators want to be the first in line.

United America’s Joe Hinson, who is based in Miami, wants to bring his big, Baja Ferry over from Mexico to do the same from Florida to Cuba. Those ships are larger, feature cabins and a casino and would be a more relaxed, overnight, 10-hour cruise.

“We’re quite comfortable that it’s one of those situations where [it’s just] ‘build it and they will come’,” Hinson said.

The U.S. and Cuba’s efforts at normalizing diplomatic relations are ongoing, as both work to reopen their respective embassies. The changing relationship also reveals the market is there for Cuba-curious Americans eager for an open-water trip to the past.

Onboard the Key West Express, which offers daily ferry service between Ft. Myers and Key West, Mike Hazelhoff of Minnesota said “I would definitely go. I’ll take the first ferry.” His wife Sally added, “I would like to go, mainly to experience something new. It would be on my bucket list!”

Christopher Smith of San Francisco said, “I’d love to go to Cuba. It’s been closed to U.S. citizens for so long, it seems like it would be a wonderful experience to socialize with the people and the culture and kinda get a feel for Cuba."

Cuba and the U.S. State Department hope to reopen their respective embassies in mid-April. Meanwhile, these ferry boat buying entrepreneurs believe the sky’s the limit for profits, if the government’s wave of normalization begins to allow it.