Havana Haven.

A FEW SHORT YEARS AGO, A LATIN AMERICAN-based Crowley Maritime executive listed key contacts in Cuba in a private interview, off the top of his head. "Now you know, I officially have never been to Caba," said the exec of the U.S.-based company with a wink and a nudge.

Every major transportation player in the Latin American trade has been and goes to the land of Castro. Havana figures to be a major shipping hub when the embargo comes tumbling down.

And the first few falling stones are hitting Havana shores. The U.S. Treasury Department recently gave Crowley license to run ships on a route, the first for an American company since the current thaw with the United States.

What and how much the ships will carry between Havana and Port Everglades and Jacksonville, where the company's located, remains to be determined. But the voyage for freer trade there is about to begin.