U.S. court overturns ruling against cruisers that called at Cuba

A U.S. federal appeals court overturned a ruling for more than $400 million in fines against four cruise lines, on the arbitrary charge of 'trafficking in confiscated goods' in Cuba.

In 2022, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom ordered major cruise lines with South Florida ties Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises to pay $439 million plus attorneys’ fees and costs for an arbitrary charge deriving from the U.S. blockade on Cuba.

The original verdict was the first of its kind to be issued under a key provision, known as Title 3, of the Helms-Burton Act – which codifies the blockade – allowing former owners of property on the island to claim property nationalized by the revolutionary government and sue those who – they claim – benefit from the commercial use of it.

Title 3 was suspended by every US president since William Clinton signed into law in 1996, until Donald Trump revived it in 2019.

The 2-1 decision announced the day before in the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals repealed the previous ruling over a lawsuit pursuing ‘prohibited tourism’ and ‘trafficking activities’ by transporting passengers to Cuba and using the docks at the facilities nationalized (in 1960) U.S.-based Havana Docks.

A joint statement from MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean Group stressed that they were ‘pleased with the decision’ and thanked the court ‘for their thorough consideration of the case’.