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World City, 10-26-999
Antillean in the second generation
A daughter runs Miami River shipping business founded by Cuban
exile father, his two brothers
Special to WorldCity
By Paul Scott Abbott
Started by three brothers who fled Cuba nearly 40 years ago,
Antillean Marine Shipping Corp. has emerged as the largest Miami
River-based cargo carrier.
And Antillean expects still greater growth when Cuba opens
to U.S. maritime trade, presumably after the fall of Fidel Castro
and communism.
In 1960, the Babun brothers Jose, Teofilo Sr. and Abraham
fled Cuba, leaving their successful lumber and cement businesses
behind and settling with family in Miami.
Three years later, equipped with a single "breakbulk"
ship for cargo, such as lumber, which isn't transported
in containers the Babuns launched a liner service on the
working river.
The family-run company, now with a fleet of 11 multipurpose
vessels, handles more than one million tons of cargo each year.
Antillean is, in fact, a key reason why Miami River companies
as a whole are responsible for as much as 90 percent of the value
of South Florida trade with the Caribbean islands, according
to Sara C. Babun, who has been the company's president for four
years.
Her father, Jose, remains chairman; the other two brothers
have died.
Antillean offers twice-weekly, nonstop sailings to the Dominican
ports of Rio Haina, Boca Chica, Puerto Plata and La Romana as
well as to Port-au-Prince.
Effective Nov. 3, Antillean is offering a new weekly service
to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
For the Providenciales service, Antillean will utilize its
secondary stevedoring facility, on the south side of the Miami
River, which can handle loading and unloading of two vessels
at a time and has been dedicated primarily to Haiti service.
More than 400,000 square feet of open storage are available there.
Antillean's main facility on the north side of the river,
in the 3000 block of Northwest North River Drive, can simultaneously
berth three vessels and has 50,000 square feet of warehouse space
in addition to more than 1 million square feet of open container
storage.
The company, which has 370 employees in Miami and the islands,
also operates a container yard and warehouse facility at 6300
NW 37th Ave., as well as two of its own container yards in the
Dominican Republic.
"My vision of the company is to continue our long-term
commitment to provide regular and competitive liner service to
the Caribbean, with dedication, hard work and sacrificed, which
has made our success," said Sarah Babun.
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