Cruise Operators Face Setbacks from US Government Over Cuba Confiscations Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. May 21, 2026 © Wangkun Jia - stock.adobe.com The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a setback on Thursday to four American cruise operators that contested $440 million in combined judgments after being accused of unlawfully using docks in Cuba that were seized in 1959 by former leader Fidel Castro's communist government. The justices, in an 8-1 ruling, set aside a lower court's decision to throw out the judgments against Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean Cruises and MSC Cruises. The cruise operators were sued by a U.S. company called Havana Docks Corporation that had built the  port  facilities before the Cuban revolution. Havana Docks filed suit under the Helms-Burton Act, a 1996 law that allows U.S. nationals who owned property in Cuba to sue anyone who "traffics in property which was confiscated by the Cuban government on or after January 1, 1959." Thursday's ruling was issued at a particularly sensitive time in U.S.-Cuban relations. The United States on Wednesday announced murder charges against former Cuban President Raúl Castro, Fidel's younger brother, in a major escalation in President Donald Trump's pressure campaign against Cuba's communist government. Under Trump, the United States has effectively imposed a blockade on Cuba by threatening sanctions on countries supplying it with fuel, triggering power outages and exacerbating its worst crisis in decades. Havana Docks built docks in Havana's  port  during the early 20th century, and has sought compensation from the cruise lines because their ships have used the seized terminal. The company had a 99-year concession from Cuba's government for the construction and operation of piers at the  port  of Havana. Shortly after coming to power, Castro nationalized and expropriated property held by U.S. companies including Havana Docks. Cuba has never paid any compe