Norwegian Cruise Line Ordered to Pay $110 Million in Cuba Court Case

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has been ordered to pay approximately $110 million in damages for use of the Havana port, according to a U.S. judge who ruled in the case Friday.

The case, ongoing for some time, was ruled in favour of the Havana Docks Corp., which essentially argued that the cruise line’s use of the Havana port “constituted trafficking in confiscated property” as the port is a Cold-War asset seizure.

It is still being determined whether NCLH will or can appeal the nine-figure ruling. Havana Docks Corp. has pending cases against Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group and MSC Cruises.

Havana Docks Corp. was awarded $109,848,747.87 in damages plus Norwegian will pay $3 million in legal fees and costs.

With the Obama administration easing the Cuba embargo in 2016, cruise lines lined up to sail to Havana, including all of Norwegian Cruise Line’s brands.

In 2019, the Trump administration undid some of that with a ban on recreational travel to Cuba which put a stop to any major cruise brands calling on the island.

In 2020 a judge ruled in favour of Carnival Corporation in a similar case.

Trump: Arison Will Make Carnival Ships Available

President Donald J. Trump

President Donald J. Trump said that Carnival Corporation Chairman Micky Arison told him that Carnival’s cruise ships will be available if the government should need them amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“I spoke with Micky Arison of Carnival Cruise Lines and he is going to make ships available,” Trump said, in a White House press conference on Thursday. “So in addition to the big medical ships you have coming, if we should need ships with lots of rooms, they will be docked in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, different places.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is no stranger to chartering cruise ships for temporary housing, having done so following Hurricane Katrina, and hurricanes in 2017. Both times FEMA worked with Carnival.

Cruise ships could supply temporary housing for a quarantine facility, or serve as housing for medical or government workers, or in some cases, have been suggested as sites for surge hospital capacity.

Ships also provide a secure environment. Authorities would know who is on the ship at any time, and can restrict access and movements relatively easily, compared to a land-based site.

Carnival Corporation owns nine brands with approximately 105 ships across its fleet.