GEMAR
A Cuban maritime and port transport group, the campaign's first designated maritime-sector entity, granted a wind-down window to 12 August.
GEMAR, Cuba's state maritime and port transport group, became the sanctions campaign's first maritime-sector designation on 13 July 2026, when the US State Department listed it under Executive Order 14404 alongside nine other entities.
Last refreshed: 17 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Maritime insurers warned this was coming; why is GEMAR the first shipping firm the US has sanctioned?
Timeline for GEMAR
Tourism ministry lands in ten-name wave
Cuba DispatchReceived a wind-down window to 12 August
Cuba Dispatch: OFAC covers two, says nothing on tourismBackground
GEMAR, the Grupo Empresarial de Transporte Marítimo Portuario, runs Cuba's state maritime and port transport operations, moving cargo through the island's harbours. Its name on Washington's 13 July tranche, folded into the same funding-source rationale as the wave's other nine entities, marked the first time Cuban shipping itself, rather than a shipping-adjacent trader, had been reached by the EO 14404 campaign.
FAQ 1262, issued by OFAC the same day, spares non-US counterparties from sanctions exposure if they close out dealings with GEMAR by 12 August 2026; the same window applies to fellow designee GECOMEX, though US persons get no such allowance either way. Maritime insurers had reportedly already begun pre-emptively screening Cuban counterparties before the designation landed, suggesting the sector had anticipated exactly this kind of transport-focused action, and GEMAR's inclusion confirms shipping is now squarely inside the campaign's scope alongside tourism and energy.
What is GEMAR?
Is GEMAR the first Cuban shipping company to be sanctioned?
