by Sean McManus
Staff Writer
Two weeks ago, a recently married couple from Denmark who decided to buy a sailboat and sail around the world, called Larry Warren, the general manager of Hual North America, the Norwegian shipping line with an office on Blount Island, and asked if they could have their mail sent to his office.
The reason: they thought Jacksonville would make a good home base for their trip. It was, after all, close to Disney World and St. Augustine.
Last week, during this interview with Warren, a box for the couple was sitting in his office. It was a spare part for the couple’s boat and they would swing by to pick it up just as soon as they made it to Florida.
Warren is the honorary consul of the country of Denmark. Pictures of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Consort, the royal regents as they are called, hang on his wall. He has met the queen and the prince a few times in unofficial jaunts there.
Warren is also the newly-elected chairman of this city’s Consular Corps — the group of consuls in Jacksonville who handle issues such as the one faced by the Danish couple, and sometimes slightly weightier ones.
“We deal with a lot of passport and visa issues for foreign nationals and help people if they have any problems when they’re visiting,” said Warren, who worked for a Danish shipping company before taking the job with Hual. “It’s just helpful to have people here if anything happens — the same way our country does abroad.”
Warren replaces Holland & Knight maritime lawyer George Gabel, the consul of Norway, who served as chairman until a few months ago. Other Consular Corps members include Hy Kliman, who represents Mexico, Jeff Landa, who represents the Netherlands, Cesar Mateo, who represents the Dominican Republic, and Saga Skaftelindblom, who is over 90 years old and represents Sweden. There are also several retired consuls in Jacksonville, representing Finland, France, Denmark and the Netherlands.
The Consular Corps is, by definition, not that organized. They can’t be because they operate under the auspices of different nations.
“We gather socially,” said Warren. “But in terms of working together on projects, we can’t really do it.”
But the Consular Corps can work with the Chamber of Commerce, the Port Authority, and other City agencies to help increase exposure and diplomatic relations between Jacksonville and their respective countries.
Kliman, a local businessman who ran an import-export container business for many years in Jacksonville — and still dabbles — was the consul to Yugoslavia for the entire southern half of the United States until civil war broke out there and consuls were disbanded globally. He now serves as consul to Mexico.
“When I was heading economic development for the City of Jacksonville under Jake Godbold, we used the office as a way to attract business here,” said Kliman. “I would go on missions all over the world to talk about Jacksonville.”
Kliman became the consul to Yugoslavia because his company, Impex, participated in trade there. In addition, at that time Florida State University was bringing over professors from that country who were interested in Jacksonville as a destination spot. Kliman had ties to FSU, which facilitated meetings.
“And I would go to New York occasionally to meet with the consuls there,” said Kliman.
The process to gain approval for the unpaid consul position is fairly rigorous. In Kliman’s case — the second time around — he was approached by the Mexican consul in Orlando, who knew him. He then flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with the U.S. ambassador.
“They take this stuff very seriously,” Kliman said. “I guess sometimes you are handling pretty serious documents. We consider it a high honor.”
Kliman said with the advent of e-mail, there’s not much reason for group meetings among the consuls any more, but occasionally he is called to Mexico, especially if there is interest in Florida by the Mexican government or a Mexican company.
“Whenever representatives of Mexico come to Jacksonville or North Florida, we treat them with the appropriate respect as one should any guest from another country,” said Kliman. “They take their experiences back with them.”
But Kliman said generally speaking, the Consular Corps is underutilized as a trade enhancement resource.
“We could do a lot more as ambassadors for our city,” said Kliman. “Of course, now I’m going to have to move to Mexico for saying that.”
But generally, the issues surrounding the consuls are less serious. According to Warren, he fielded a call from the Danish consul in New York when there was a hurricane headed for Jacksonville. They wanted to know whether they should contact any Danish tourists in Florida.
“We’re always happy to help out,” said Warren. “It’s a good group.”