Washington - US logistic executives who toured Cuban shipping facilities have estimated that the island has great potential to be a key shipping hub for the region, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Officials of 18 logistics companies visited the island in a trip which coincided with President Barack Obama's historic visit to Havana.

They watched operations at the Port of Mariel, northwest of the Cuban capital, and praised its facilities, which they claimed could boost trade in the area.

They stated their belief that Cuba could be an ideal location for cross-docking operations, or re-sorting and distributing cargo from large 'post-Panamax' ships to smaller vessels headed for U.S. ports, the newspaper pointed out.

According to the entrepreneurs cited by the publication, this could include ships from Asia with cargo bound for US East Coast ports that are not equipped to handle larger ships. Mariel's location is absolutely perfect to be a hub, to push freight into northern Mexico, or along the entire southern coast, and even up to our ports on the eastern side that do not have that deep draft, stated Sue Spero, president of transportation brokerage firm Carrier Services of Tennessee Inc.