Cuba greets US cargo ship

A US-flagged ship is a curiosity in Cuba

A cargo vessel sailing under a US flag and with a US crew has arrived in Havana harbour for the first time in 42 years.

The 323-foot (97-metre) barge Helen III, carrying paper and wood from Alabama, was greeted by a US flag flying from the Moro castle at the harbour entrance, the Associated Press reports.

"When I saw the Cuban flag pass, I felt like it was the first day of class, I was so nervous in my stomach," said Charles Turner Fabian II, vice president for operations of Maybank Shipping of Charleston, South Carolina, which owns the vessel.

The US severed ties with Cuba and imposed a trade embargo in 1961 as Fidel Castro's government turned towards socialism.

In December 2001, the US Government eased the embargo, allowing shipments of food and some other goods for cash.

Since then, many ships have carried US goods to Cuba, but the Helen III was the first to do so under a US flag.

Mr Fabian said the shipment, worth about $1.5m, was part of a contract to ship a total of 10,000 tons, with another 5,000-ton deal planned.

He said more shipments would arrive "about every month, I'd say for the next six months - hopefully for the next 1,000 years".

The Helen III had visited Havana more than a year ago carrying a single cargo of humanitarian medical aid, Mr Fabian said, but it had not been sailing under a US flag.