“The first year the executive order restricting boat trips is lifted, tens of thousands of vessels could come,” Jose Miguel Diaz Escrish, commodore of the Ernest Hemingway International Nautical Club in Havana told Agence France-Presse (AFP). Cuba “is not prepared (for) the large influx… there are no marinas prepared, there are no shipyards or nautical supply stores.”
In 2004, former president George W. Bush put an end to US boats going to the Island by issuing an executive order that expanded the government’s authority to halt unauthorized travel out of US waters.
Now, after the Obama administration lifted a series of restrictions on US business in January, American businessmen are gearing up for a busy season.
South Florida ferry company CubaKat has already announced planning trips by sea to Cuba.
“CubaKat’s goal is to offer our ferry service, from the Florida Keys to ports within Cuba, sometime in 2015. Currently, we’re working with officials from both countries to make this venture a reality,” the company’s website says.
Another company, Havana Ferry Partner, has also applied for license to operate a high-speed ferry service to Cuba.
Such an influx, Escrish argues, could force the Cuban government to develop its tourism sector.
The commodore predicts record breaking attendance at the next Ernest Hemingway International Billfishing Tournament, to be held in May.
Since the US and Cuba announced their historic rapprochement in December, the White House has eased travel restrictions on 12 categories of visits, including journalism and education, but not for tourism.
The ferry service between Florida and Cuba was stopped in the early 1960s when the US imposed sanctions on the Caribbean nation.
