A Florida-Cuba Ferry?

Want to take a ferry from the Florida Keys to Cuba?

That’s the goal of Fort Lauderdale-based Company – CubaKat, which hopes to carry travellers from Florida to Havana by the end of the year.

The Florida-based company says it is looking to develop high-speed catamaran ferry service between the Florida Keys and Havana, Cuba.

The company says it is working toward December 2015 as its official launch date, according to the company’s web site, although that would require clearing a host of governmental hurdles, from customs to the laws of the embargo itself.

“While we are not currently operating ferry service from Florida to Cuba, we are working very closely with both US and Cuban authorities and other partners to gain full governmental approval for our service,” the company said in a release.

While purely touristic travel is still prohibited for US travellers to Cuba despite the recent agreement between the US and Cuban governments, a number of categories of travel are legal. Trips are going to be for religious groups, educational trips and for Cuban-Americans to see their families again.

CubaKat has reportedly been working with officials in both the US and Cuba on the proposed service since 2011.

If realized, the service would be the resumption of what was, before the embargo, a frequent means of transit between America and its Caribbean neighbour.

While the Keys and particularly Marathon would reportedly be the primary potential port, the company’s web site says CubaKat is “evaluating options including Key West, Tampa and Miami.”