Supreme Court reinstates $440M liability for cruise lines in case over confiscated Cuban port assets
OAN Staff Lillian Mann
4:15 PM – Thursday, May 21, 2026
Four major cruise line companies are facing a combined $440 million in judgments after being accused of unlawfully using Cuban docks that were seized in 1959 by former Communist leader Fidel Castro.
Following an 8-1 ruling, the Supreme Court sided with Havana Docks Corporation, a U.S. company that operated docks in the city before Castro seized the property in 1959.
The ruling comes amid renewed tensions between Washington and Havana. Just one day earlier, the U.S. announced murder charges against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro in connection with the 1996 shootdown of aircraft flown by Miami-based exiles.
The decision revives more than $440 million in judgements against cruise companies Carnival, Norwegian, Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises for using the Havana port during the Obama administration.
For years, U.S. presidents suspended enforcement of the Helms-Burton Act to avoid conflicts with allies and businesses operating in Cuba. Cruise lines resumed calls in Havana in 2016, following former president Barack Obama’s efforts with Cuba.
In 2019, President Donald Trump reversed the long-standing policy of suspending Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, activating the law to ramp up economic pressure on Cuba’s communist government and allowing U.S. nationals to sue companies profiting from confiscated property.
Writing for the Supreme Court majority, SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas explained that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals had erred in dismissing the lawsuit, declaring that the cruise lines were indeed liable because they “used confiscated property to which Havana Docks owns the claim.”
By reviving the case, Thomas and the majority rejected the lower court’s reasoning, affirming that the cruise lines’ use of the Havana port facilities fell directly under the statute’s definition of unlawful trafficking in stolen assets.
Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the dissent that her colleagues had misinterpreted the text of the statute, writing that “what Havana Docks owned was only a property interest allowing it to use those docks for a specified time,” adding that the decision could “allow plaintiffs to recover for trafficking in property that was not theirs.”
A federal judge in Miami had previously found the cruise operators liable and awarded Havana Docks more than $400 million in total damages. That ruling was later overturned by an appeals court, before the Supreme Court issued its decision on Thursday. The case will now return to the lower courts, where the cruise lines are expected to continue contesting the claims.
The lawsuits arise under the Helms-Burton Act, a 1996 statute that permits U.S. nationals to bring claims against companies alleged to have profited from property confiscated by the Cuban government following the revolution.
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