Crowley Freighter Fails To Make Appearance in Havana

A U.S. freighter, due to become the first American cargo ship to dock in Cuba for decades because of a trade embargo, failed to show up in Havana harbor as scheduled in the early hours of Saturday.

Crowley Liner Service, based in Jacksonville, Fla., confirmed, but gave no explanation for, a last-minute decision to take Cuba off the route of its container ship M/V Orso.

"A decision was made last night, Friday, to bypass Cuba and proceed on to Mexico," a Crowley spokesman said.

The spokesman said the decision had been taken by a "senior Crowley official on the ground in Cuba."

There was speculation in Cuba on Saturday that the ship's entry permission might have been denied by President Fidel Castro's government, perhaps because of a disagreement over its cargo, or because Havana was seeking to avoid an impression that U.S. ships were now in a position to serve Cuba normally.

Taking advantage of last year's modification of a U.S. embargo to allow food and medicine sales to Cuba for the first time under a four-decade-old embargo, Crowley had hoped to become the first shipping service to relink the two nations.

After obtaining a U.S. license for the operation, Crowley had announced a weekly service to Havana as part of a route that includes three ports in Mexico. It was not known precisely what cargo Crowley was bringing to Cuba, although it was presumed that it was mainly humanitarian aid.