Cuba-bound tanker carrying Russian diesel to arrive in several days
A tanker loaded with Russian diesel is expected to reach crisis‑hit Cuba “in several days” after employing evasive tactics to get to the island, which is under a US fuel blockade, according to a maritime tracker.
A tanker loaded with Russian diesel is expected to reach crisis‑hit Cuba “in several days” after employing evasive tactics to get to the island, which is under a US fuel blockade, according to a maritime tracker.
Maritime intelligence firm Windward said that if the vessel docks, it would mark the first confirmed delivery of refined products to the island since early January.
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Windward had earlier indicated the Hong Kong-flagged Sea Horse had “likely” discharged about 190,000 barrels of Russian diesel in Cuba in early March, but later revised its webpage to note the ship had not yet arrived on the island.
Cuba remains mired in economic crisis and rolling blackouts, conditions made worse by the sudden halt of oil supplies from Venezuela in January after the United States ousted President Nicolas Maduro, a Cuba ally.
Critics have long accused Nicolas Maduro of being a dictator
On Monday, Cuba’s grid operator reported a collapse of the national electric system, cutting power to around 10 million people amid a US‑imposed oil blockade that has crippled the island’s already weakened generation network.
People walk along a Havana street during a blackout in Cuba
According to Windward, the Sea Horse loaded diesel from another ship off Cyprus in early February.
The vessel first broadcast Havana as its destination before switching to “Gibraltar for orders” as scrutiny of inbound cargoes to Cuba intensified, the firm said.
After crossing the Atlantic in mid‑to‑late February, the Sea Horse paused roughly 1,300 nautical miles from Cuban waters and began drifting at under 1 knot, signaling it was “not under command.”
Windward said the tanker also used other “deceptive shipping practices,” including turning off its automatic identification system (AIS), a GPS‑type signal commercial ships use to avoid collisions.
The ship is sailing without Western insurance, which Windward described as another indicator of sanctions circumvention.
Windward’s updated report says AIS tracking suggests the Hong Kong‑flagged tanker has resumed its voyage to Cuba and is set to deliver its cargo of 190,000 barrels of gas oil in several days.
A second vessel, the sanctioned Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, is also en route to Cuba carrying 730,000 barrels of crude oil, maritime analytics firm Kpler said yesterday.