ODETTE BLANCO DE FERNANDEZ née BLANCO ROSELL; EMMA RUTH BLANCO, in her personal capacity, and as Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF ALFREDO BLANCO ROSELL, JR; HEBE BLANCO MIYARES, in her personal capacity, and as Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF BYRON BLANCO ROSELL; SERGIO BLANCO DE LA TORRE, in his personal capacity, and as Administrator Ad Litem of the ESTATE OF ENRIQUE BLANCO ROSELL; EDUARDO BLANCO DE LA TORRE, as Administrator Ad Litem of the ESTATE OF FLORENTINO BLANCO ROSELL; LIANA MARIA BLANCO; SUSANNAH VALENTINA BLANCO; LYDIA BLANCO BONAFONTE; JACQUELINE M. DELGADO; BYRON BLANCO, JR.; MAGDELENA BLANCO MONTOTO; FLORENTINO BLANCO DE LA TORRE; JOSEPH E. BUSHMAN; CARLOS BLANCO DE LA TORRE; and GUILLERMO BLANCO DE LA TORRE; Plaintiffs, v. MSC MEDITERRANEAN SHIPPING COMPANY SA. [1:21-cv-23400; Florida Southern District].

Horr, Novak & Skipp, P.A. (plaintiff)
Law Offices Of John S. Gaebe P.A. (plaintiff)
Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP (plaintiff)
Fields PLLC (plaintiff)

LINKS:
Libertad Act T itle III Lawsu it Statistics
Complain t (9/22/21)

Excerpts:

The Blanco Rosell Siblings’ property confiscated by the Cuban Government included all of their “property and rights, whatever their nature,” including but not limited to: (a) their wholly owned company, Maritima Mariel SA, and the 70-Year Concession held by Maritima Mariel SA, to develop docks, warehouses and port facilities on Mariel Bay, a deep water harbor located on the north coast of Cuba; and (b) their wholly owned companies, Central San Ramón and Compañia Azucarera Mariel S.A., including those companies’ extensive land holdings (approximately 11,000 acres) on the southeast, south and west sides of Mariel Bay, which included a number of improvements such as roads, railways, buildings, and utilities

The Blanco Rosell Siblings were not U.S. citizens when the Cuban Government confiscated their Confiscated Property in 1960. They fled Cuba after the confiscation and became U.S. citizens before March 12, 1996, the date the Helms-Burton Act was signed into law.

Defendant MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, S.A. (“MSC”) is a Société Anonyme organized under the laws of Switzerland with its principal place of business located at Chemin Rieu 12-14, 1208 Geneva, Switzerland.

27. MSC describes itself as a “global business engaged in the shipping and logistics sector. Present in 155 countries, MSC facilitates international trade between the world’s major economies, and among emerging markets across all continents.”

28. MSC has more than 100,000 employees and 570 vessels covering 500 ports of call as shown in the figure below.

As discussed more fully below (infra, ¶¶ 104-112), MSC has trafficked in the least July 2021. According to bills of lading on file with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, since 2016, Defendant has served as the carrier for approximately 273 cargo shipments from various U.S. Ports, including multiple cargo shipments from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale (within this Judicial District) to the Port of Mariel,5 the final destination declared.

31. The containers that Defendant carries to the Port of Mariel are loaded at U.S. ports, including Port Everglades and Jacksonville, and then Defendant carries the containers to ports in Panama, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic where the containers are off-loaded and then loaded onto other ships (a/k/a “commercial feeder” ships) and are then carried by Defendant to the Port of Mariel, the declared final destination where they are off-loaded at Terminal de Contenedores del Mariel (“TCM” or “Container Terminal”), which is part of the Port of Mariel within the Zona Especial de Desarollo Mariel (“ZEDM”) (a/k/a Mariel Special Economic Zone) and within the Bay of Mariel. MSC profits by, from and through carrying the cargo to the Port of Mariel.

ODETTE BLANCO DE FERNANDEZ née BLANCO ROSELL; EMMA RUTH BLANCO, in her personal capacity, and as Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF ALFREDO BLANCO ROSELL, JR; HEBE BLANCO MIYARES, in her personal capacity, and as Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF BYRON BLANCO ROSELL; SERGIO BLANCO DE LA TORRE, in his personal capacity, and as Administrator Ad Litem of the ESTATE OF ENRIQUE BLANCO ROSELL; EDUARDO BLANCO DE LA TORRE, as Administrator Ad Litem of the ESTATE OF FLORENTINO BLANCO ROSELL; LIANA MARIA BLANCO; SUSANNAH VALENTINA BLANCO; LYDIA BLANCO BONAFONTE; JACQUELINE M. DELGADO; BYRON BLANCO, JR.; MAGDALENA BLANCO MONTOTO; FLORENTINO BLANCO DE LA TORRE; JOSEPH E. BUSHMAN; CARLOS BLANCO DE LA TORRE; and GUILLERMO BLANCO DE LA TORRE; Plaintiffs, v. CMA CGM S.A. (a/k/a CMA CGM THE FRENCH LINE; a/k/a CMA CGM GROUP); CMA CGM (AMERICA) LLC. [1:21-cv-22778; Southern Florida District]

Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP (plaintiff)
Horr, Novak & Skipp P.A. (plaintiff)
Fields PLLC (plaintiff)
Law Offices of John S. Gaebe P.A. (plaintiff)

ODETTE BLANCO DE FERNANDEZ née BLANCO ROSELL; EMMA RUTH BLANCO, in her personal capacity, and as Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF ALFREDO BLANCO ROSELL, JR; HEBE BLANCO MIYARES, in her personal capacity, and as Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF BYRON BLANCO ROSELL; SERGIO BLANCO DE LA TORRE, in his personal capacity, and as Administrator Ad Litem of the ESTATE OF ENRIQUE BLANCO ROSELL; EDUARDO BLANCO DE LA TORRE, as Administrator Ad Litem of the ESTATE OF FLORENTINO BLANCO ROSELL; LIANA MARIA BLANCO; SUSANNAH VALENTINA BLANCO; LYDIA BLANCO BONAFONTE; JACQUELINE M. DELGADO; BYRON DIAZ BLANCO, JR.; MAGDELENA BLANCO MONTOTO; FLORENTINO BLANCO DE LA TORRE; JOSEPH E. BUSHMAN; CARLOS BLANCO DE LA TORRE; and GUILLERMO BLANCO DE LA TORRE VERSUS A.P. MOLLER-MAERSK A/S (a/k/a A.P. MOLLER-MAERSK GROUP); MAERSK A/S (a/k/a MAERSK LINE A/S); MAERSK, INC.; and MAERSK AGENCY U.S.A., INC [2:21-cv-00339; Eastern District of Louisiana].

Pusateri, Johnston, Guillot & Greenbaum, LLC (plaintiff)
Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP (plaintiff)
Fields PLLC (plaintiff)

ODETTE BLANCO DE FERNANDEZ née BLANCO ROSELL, Plaintiff, v. CROWLEY MARITIME CORPORATION, Defendant. [3:20-cv-01426 Middle District Florida; Transferred To Florida Southern District 1:21-cv-20443].

Murphy & Anderson, P.A. (plaintiff)
Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP (plaintiff)
Fields PLLC (plaintiff)
Law Offices of John S. Gaebe P.A. (plaintiff)
Horr, Novak & Skipp P.A. (plaintiff)
Venable LLP (defendant)

ODETTE BLANCO DE FERNANDEZ née BLANCO ROSELL, Plaintiff, v. SEABOARD MARINE, LTD., Defendant. [1:20-cv-25176; Southern Florida District].

Horr, Novak & Skipp, P.A. (plaintiff)
Law Offices of John S. Gaebe (plaintiff)
Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP (plaintiff)
Fields (plaintiff)
Barakat Law (plaintiff)
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (defendant)

Economic Eye On Cuba

MSC Of Switzerland Is 42nd Company Sued Using Libertad Act. Same Plaintiffs Sued Four Other Shipping Companies For Use Of Port Mariel In Cuba

U.S. - Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc.