If investors thought doing business in Cuba was tough after the Trump administration reinstated sanctions against the island nation’s Communist regime, a Miami federal judge’s ruling that tags four cruise lines for “trafficking” in confiscated property is giving them even greater pause.
Early this month, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom lowered a boom on four cruise line operators — Carnival Corp., MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Holdings and Royal Caribbean Group — by ordering them to pay a combined $450 million to the heirs of the original owners of the Havana Cruise Port Terminal.
She acted after ruling in March 2022 that the cruise companies “trafficked” in seized properties under Title III of the federal Helms-Burton Act. The cruise companies have all vowed to appeal.
