By Christopher Calnan. Times-Union staff writer.Jacksonville.com. Tuesday,
May 1, 2001.
A U.S. State Department official confirmed yesterday that the department had
household items for U.S. diplomats working in Cuba aboard the Jacksonville-based
cargo ship turned away from Havana 10 days ago.
The shipment was supposed to be the first major delivery of cargo to Cuba
since an embargo was instituted 40 years ago, but the Cuban government didn't
allow the ship to enter the port, and neither the ship's operator nor the Cubans
have yet to say why.
The State Department's admission was the first indication about what type of
cargo was aboard the ship. It also may explain the secrecy surrounding the event
and why the U.S. Customs Service has withheld documents with information about
the cargo.
Two State Department sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, have said
Cuba turned away the ship because it didn't want to open the floodgates of
humanitarian shipments to the country which could illustrate its neediness and
prove to be embarrassing. Diplomatic cargo on the ship was used as a convenient
excuse, they said.
Meanwhile yesterday, Charles Shapiro, director of Cuban affairs at the State
Department, said officials want to send items to diplomats through
Jacksonville's Crowley Liner Services instead of through a third country as it
has been done in the past.
"When the Crowley line thought it was given the green light to ship to
Cuba, people thought it would be a faster and cheaper way of getting it to post,"
Shapiro said.
In February, Crowley became the first shipping line to get a license from
the Treasury Department to send humanitarian donations, commercial food and
medical supplies to Cuba that are allowed under the Trade Sanctions Reform and
Export Enhancement Act approved by Congress last year.
Shapiro said the State Department has always sent diplomats stationed in
Cuba their goods by sending them through Belgium or Canada.
The Cuba-bound cargo was loaded in Port Everglades on the container ship
Orso before it took on additional cargo in Jacksonville that was bound for other
ports.
Orso, which is owned by an Antigua company but leased by Crowley, left
Jacksonville for Cuba April 19, before being turned away on April 21.
Crowley spokesman Mark Miller, who has consistently declined to reveal any
details about the shipment, declined to comment on the State Department's
revelation.
He said the company is now negotiating with the Cuban government to resolve
any problems and expects Crowley to begin regular weekly shipments to Havana in
the future.
Meanwhile, six other shipping companies are in the process of applying for
such licenses.
Customs officials have said the release of the ship's outward cargo manifest
is being reviewed because disclosure of the information could pose a threat of
personal injury or property damage. Such documents are usually considered public
and made readily available to a shipping trade magazine on a daily basis.
A Customs official declined yesterday to comment on the State Department's
disclosure about the diplomatic cargo or whether the State Department's
involvement was a factor in withholding the ship's manifest.
Crowley, which is a subsidiary of Crowley Maritime Corp., is headquartered
in Oakland, Calif., and operates two terminals in Jacksonville.
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