US issues first licenses for passenger ferry service to Cuba

The US issued "specific licenses" for commercial ferry passenger service to Cuba, opening the door to the start of operations between Florida and the island, the Treasury Department told Efe.

"The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued certain ... licenses for passenger ferry service, but we cannot provide additional details about how many or who (received them)," OFAC spokesperson Hagar Chemali said on Tuesday.

The move comes as part of the process of normalising relations between the US and Cuba and allows the establishment of the first commercial maritime passenger routes between the two nations in more than 50 years.

Nevertheless, the Treasury spokesperson said that "there is no general license authorising passenger ferry service between the US and Cuba ... (and) the individual licenses will be issued on a case by case basis."

The Treasury Department did not provide the names of the companies that received the licenses, although the daily Orlando Sentinel reported that they included Havana Ferry Partners, based in Fort Lauderdale, and Baja Ferries, based in Mexico.

Leonard Moecklin Sr., the manager of Havana Ferry, told the Orlando paper that this was an "historic" event in US-Cuban relations.

The Sentinel reported that the companies had requested the licenses several years ago and at least five other firms have also asked for similar authorisation.