Failure in the face of the US blockade: Escorted by frigate Admiral Grigorovich, a Russian oil tanker, full of diesel, drifted for a month
Moscow's attempt to send fuel to Cuba, a country hit by a massive energy crisis, suffered a setback after a sanctions-listed oil tanker carrying diesel fuel failed to reach the Caribbean island and spent weeks adrift in the Atlantic Ocean, according to maritime tracking data analyzed by the Russian investigative publication The Insider, which reports from exile.
The Universal oil tanker, carrying about 270,000 barrels of diesel, left Russia in April bound for Cuba but has spent the past month adrift in the Sargasso Sea, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) northeast of the Caribbean island. The tanker then changed its course to the south, in the direction of Brazil, The Insider wrote, citing data from the ship tracking service Starboard Maritime Intelligence.
The ship's destination is currently listed as “On Order” – a maritime designation indicating that it is awaiting further routing instructions or a final destination, notes independent Russian publication The Moscow Times.
The Insider states that this suggests that US authorities did not allow the tanker to proceed to Cuba.
The Universal ship left the Baltic Sea port of Vistino in the Leningrad region on April 6 and, according to the British newspaper The Telegraph, was escorted through the English Channel by a Russian military convoy.
The British publication also wrote that the frigate Admiral Grigorovich, carrying Kalibr cruise missiles, of the Russian Black Sea Fleet later accompanied the tanker in the Atlantic.
The Universal tanker is subject to sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, Great Britain, Switzerland and Canada.
According to The Insider, only one oil tanker managed to deliver crude oil to Cuba this year: the ship Anatoly Kolodkin, which carried about 730,000 barrels after receiving authorization from the United States.
These reserves were reportedly exhausted by the end of April.
Cuba has faced widespread fuel shortages and recurring power outages in recent months as the US has stepped up pressure on the country, including through a blockade targeting fuel imports.
The United States says it is seeking political and economic change in Cuba and has called on the island's communist leadership to begin reforms.
On May 20, the administration of US President Donald Trump indicted former Cuban leader Raúl Castro for facts related to the downing, in 1996, of a plane operated by the humanitarian organization “Brothers to the Rescue”, an incident in which four people died, including three Americans.
