By Gus Trompiz, Christoph Steitz and Dave Sherwood
PARIS/FRANKFURT/HAVANA, May 17 (Reuters) – Shipping giants CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd have suspended all bookings to and from Cuba until further notice, they said separately on Sunday, with both citing a U.S. executive order issued on May 1.
“Following the U.S. Executive Order issued on May 1, CMA CGM has decided to suspend its bookings to or from Cuba until further notice,” the French shipping giant said in an emailed statement. It added it was “closely monitoring the situation” and would adapt its operations in compliance with applicable regulations.
A Hapag-Lloyd spokesman said the German company was similarly suspending Cuban orders “due to compliance risks associated with the U.S. president’s executive order of May 1.”
The Cuban government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The temporary suspension of new orders by two of the world’s largest shipping companies could jeopardize as much as 60% of Cuba’s shipping traffic by volume, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said — a major blow to a country already nearing collapse amid a U.S. oil blockade that has throttled the island of fuel.
Shipping of goods from China would be most impacted by the order, the sources said. Northern Europe and the Mediterranean would also be severely impacted, the sources added, though all global shipping to Cuba would be affected.
The Trump executive order on May 1 broadened existing U.S. sanctions on commerce with Cuba to include “any foreign person” operating in the “energy, defense and related materiel, metals and mining, financial services, or security sector of the Cuban economy, or any other sector of the Cuban economy.”
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz, Christoph Steitz and Dave Sherwood; Writing by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Chris Reese)