Supreme Court Revives More Than $440 Million Claims Against Cruise Lines — U.s. Assets Seized By Cuba

The Supreme Court revived u.s. assets seized by cuba lawsuits on Thursday, restoring more than $440 million in judgments against Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises. The 8-1 ruling sends Havana Docks Corporation’s claims back to the lower courts after years of litigation over the cruise lines’ use of Havana port facilities.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that a lower court wrongly dismissed the claims because the cruise companies “used confiscated property to which Havana Docks owns the claim.” Havana Docks operated docks in Havana before the Cuban government took the property in 1959, and the revived judgments had earlier topped more than $400 million in a federal court in Miami.

Havana Docks and the Helms-Burton Act

The lawsuits stem from the Helms-Burton Act, a 1996 law that allows Americans to sue companies that profit from property seized by Cuba’s government after the revolution. The case concerns property taken during Fidel Castro’s communist revolution, and the cruise operators were accused of profiting from the use of Havana port facilities tied to that seized property.

The dispute reached the Supreme Court after an appeals court overturned the Miami ruling that had found the cruise operators liable and awarded Havana Docks more than $400 million combined. The ruling does not end the case; it restores the judgments and returns the dispute to the lower courts for further proceedings.

Obama, Trump and Havana Stops

The cruise lines resumed stops in Havana in 2016 after President Barack Obama reopened travel ties with Cuba. President Donald Trump activated the Helms-Burton Act in 2019 and tightened pressure on Cuba’s communist regime, adding another layer to a case already tied to shifting U.S.-Cuba policy.

Justice Elena Kagan dissented, writing that “what Havana Docks owned was only a property interest allowing ​it to use those docks ⁠for a specified time.” Kagan added that the court should not “allow plaintiffs to recover for trafficking in property that was not theirs.”

Lower Courts Take It Back

For Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises, the practical effect is that a large liability once erased by the appeals court is back in play. Havana Docks again has a live path to seek recovery tied to Havana port use, and the lower courts will now pick up the dispute with the Supreme Court’s 8-1 ruling in place.