Maersk opens direct Cork-Cuba shipping service

Shipping giant Maersk Line has opened a direct service between Cork and Cuba. The move will enable Irish companies to capitalise on an expected boom resulting from the normalisation of relationships between the United States and Havana.

The recent easing of economic sanctions against the Caribbean island by President Barack Obama has led to a flurry of investment there by US firms. Now Irish companies are getting the opportunity to increase business with the Communist country with the introduction of the service, which will call at Mariel, a port located about 40km from the Cuban capital.

The service is an expansion of the shipping company’s existing CRX Latin American route, which connects Mexico and Costa Rica directly with Europe. That route, which was reintroduced in 2011, already calls at Cork.

The new port of Cork-Mariel route will boast the fastest transit times in the market, connecting European exporters and importers to Maersk’s network of feeder connections. These include a weekly service to the island’s second biggest city, Santiago de Cuba.

Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company, is expected to announce full details of the expanded service in the coming days. Six vessels with an average capacity of 2,545 20ft equivalent units are expected to operate on the expanded route.

In the past few years, the containerised market in Cuba has been growing at a pace of between 10 to 15 per cent a year. This is largely due to the easing of sanctions, and large investments and modernisation projects such as the refurbishing of the old Havana port and the creation of a Special Economic Zone in Mariel.

Earlier this month, Maersk also launched a new service that connects Dublin and Liverpool with the Mediterranean and North Africa.