Aid-carrying sailboats arrive in Cuba after previously going missing

After days of uncertainty at sea, two sailboats carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba arrived in Havana yesterday, ending an overdue voyage from Mexico that had prompted a search-and-rescue operation.

The nine crew members — among them American, French and German citizens, as well as a four-year-old boy — appeared healthy and upbeat as they docked in the capital beneath clear skies, smiling and flashing thumbs-up signs.

The vessels delivered the last shipments of the Our America Convoy, an international aid campaign aimed at helping Cuba as a US oil blockade intensifies the island’s energy shortages and broader economic strain.

“We are very sorry to make people worried about us. We were never in any real danger,” Adnaan Stumo, a 33-year-old American and coordinator of the sailing convoy, told reporters.

The boy, he said, “is a strong, young sailor.”

“We’re so happy to bring a crew from so many different countries that are demonstrating solidarity and support for the Cuban people in the face of this criminal blockade,” Mr Stumo said.

Scores of Cubans, including government officials, welcomed the ships on arrival, chanting “long live the revolution!” and “down with imperialism!”

“They scared us a little because we kept wondering, ‘when will they get here?'” Gerardo Hernandez, a former Cuban spy who served time in US prison, told the crowd.

‘Not worried at all’

The Friend Ship and Tiger Moth departed the Yucatan Peninsula in southeast Mexico on March 20 and had originally been due in Cuba on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Concern mounted on Thursday when the Mexican Navy said it had launched a search-and-rescue mission after losing contact with the vessels.

Organizers said early Saturday, after an anxious wait, that the Mexican Navy had located the boats and confirmed that everyone on board was safe.

The Navy said one of its aircraft spotted the sailboats 80 nautical miles northwest of Havana before a ship was sent to assist them.

Mr Stumo said the crews chose a longer northern route after running into strong easterly winds.

He said communication with the Mexican Navy was lost because the boat’s small satellite link “was on the fritz.” Contact was later restored with the Mexican Navy plane.

“We were not worried at all,” Mr Stumo said, adding that sailboats do not always keep to a fixed schedule. “We are very thankful that the Mexican Navy came out and looked for us last night.”

The sailboats carried medicine, food, hygiene products and other supplies.

‘Cuba is next’

The convoy’s first aid shipments reached Cuba by plane from Europe and the United States last week.

A fishing boat converted into an aid vessel, which also departed Mexico last week, arrived in Cuba on Tuesday.

It was escorted for part of the trip by a Mexican Navy ship.

Altogether, the convoy delivered more than 50 tonnes of medical supplies, food, water and solar panels to Cuba, with hospitals among those receiving the aid.

Critics, including Cuban exiles in Miami, have denounced the convoy, arguing that it benefits the communist government more than ordinary citizens.

US President Donald Trump imposed a de facto oil blockade on Cuba in January after US forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, whose government had been Cuba’s main fuel supplier.

Mr Trump has also threatened tariffs on countries that send oil to Cuba, where an aging electricity grid has been battered by repeated blackouts, including two nationwide outages last week.

He renewed his warnings toward Havana on Friday, even as the US-Israeli war against Iran entered its second month, saying “Cuba is next.”