State-owned DP World, which last year gave up control over six US ports following political controversy, has agreed to do a feasibility study to build a $250 million container terminal in Mariel.

DP World became the world''s third-largest container port operator last year when it bought UK''s Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. However, a political storm in the US forced the company to sell P&O''s US assets, including the ports of New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami and New Orleans, as US lawmakers saw an Arab acquisition as a threat to US national security.

P&O had planned for several years to rebuild Mariel port, 30 miles west of Havana on the north coast of the Caribbean island, and turn it into a modern container port.

The port of Mariel has a strategic proximity to the United States and is an attractive investment as Cuba is no longer under a US trade embargo.