Caribbean News

President Donald Trump dramatically escalated a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean on Friday by deploying the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier group to Latin America, a show of force that far exceeds any past counter-narcotics need and represents Washington’s most muscular move yet in the region.The deployment is part of Trump's military buildup in the Caribbean, which includes eight additional warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 aircraft. It is likely to raise concern in the…

The U.S. military is holding two survivors aboard a Navy ship after rescuing them from a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean hit by a U.S. strike that killed two others, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.The disclosure, which has not been previously reported, raises the possibility that the survivors from Thursday's strike are the first prisoners of war in a conflict declared by President Donald Trump against a "narcoterrorist" threat he says is…

Tensions between the United States and Venezuela are rising amid a large U.S. naval buildup in the Southern Caribbean and nearby waters, which U.S. officials say aims to address threats from Latin American drug cartels.U.S. President Donald Trump has made cracking down on drug cartels a central goal of his administration, part of a wider effort to limit migration and secure the U.S. southern border. While U.S. Coast Guard and Navy ships regularly operate in the Southern Caribbean, this buildup is significantly larger than usual deployments in the region.A U.S.

Crowley’s newest, LNG-powered containership, Tiscapa, began its inaugural service today, adding faster, bigger options for timely ocean cargo transport around the U.S., Caribbean and Central America.Like its sister ships in the Avance Class, Tiscapa features container capacity for 1,400 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units), including 300 refrigerated units. This ship was specifically designed to quickly and frequently deliver cargo while using lower emission liquefied natural gas (LNG) for fuel.Tiscapa departed from the Port of Jacksonville…

On March 1, 2025, His Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Harry DeWolf successfully assisted a United States Coast Guard (USCG) Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) in conducting a seizure of 750 kilograms of cocaine in the Caribbean Sea. This seizure, supported by Colombian air and maritime assets, has an estimated street value $18.8 million.Sailing in support of Operation CARIBBE, Canada's contribution to the United States (US)-led enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean Sea…

Cuba, mired in an energy crisis that has brought frequent blackouts, is negotiating with a Turkish company to have it double the megawatts it currently produces for the country from shipboard generators just offshore, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.Cuban officials are in talks with Karpowership, one of the world’s largest operators of floating power plants and part of the Turkey-based Karadeniz Holding, the sources said. The company already has five…

An inferno at Cuba's largest oil storage facility has killed at least one firefighter, injured many more, and threatens to further swell the fuel import bill for the impoverished island nation that relies on foreign oil for everything from transportation to its power grid.Cuban officials may need to scramble to set up expensive floating storage capacity to handle imports aimed at easing an acute fuel scarcity, sources and experts said on Monday.Cuba relies on the 2.4-million-barrel Matanzas terminal…

A third crude tank caught fire and collapsed at Cuba's main oil terminal in Matanzas, its governor said on Monday, as an oil spill spread flames from a second tank that caught fire two days earlier in the island's biggest oil industry accident in decades.Cuba had made progress fighting off the raging flames during the weekend after drawing on help from Mexico and Venezuela, but late on Sunday the fire began spreading from the second tank, which collapsed, said Mario Sabines, governor of the Matanzas province…

A tanker carrying Russian fuel oil arrived in Cuba on Thursday, bringing supplies for the Caribbean nation's sputtering power plants and giving Russia an outlet for products shunned by the West.The United States and Canada have imposed sanctions on Russian oil and fuel over its invasion of Ukraine, while Europe and the United Kingdom are moving toward an end-of-year embargo on Russian crude imports.The Liberia-flagged Aframax tanker Suvorovsky Prospect arrived in Cuba's Matanzas port carrying about 700,000 barrels of fuel oil, loaded at Russia's Ust-Luga port. The cargo is worth some $70 million at market prices.The vessel is owned by a unit of top Russian shipping conglomerate Sovcomflot, according to maritime database Equasis. Sovcomflot is under British, Canadian and U.S.

BP Trinidad and Tobago has chartered the Safe Concordia offshore accommodation rig from Prosafe, to provide gangway-connected operations at Cassia C offshore platform in Trinidad. The contract will last around 160 days and will be a straight continuation of Safe Concordia's current engagement at Cassia C. The new contract will run from March 24, 2022, to August 31, 2022. BP Trinidad and Tobago will have options to extend the charter for up to four weeks.The value of the firm part of the deal is $19.4 million.Jesper Kragh Andresen…

Höegh LNG Partners has entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy for the charter of the Höegh Gallant for FSRU operations for a period of ten years, with a planned start-up during the fourth quarter of 2021. New Fortress Energy will deploy the FSRU in Jamaica.Sveinung Støhle, Chief Executive Officer, stated: "The new long-term FSRU contract entered into with New Fortress is an important development for the Partnership as it extends the Partnership's contract coverage and average charter length and broadens our customer base and global footprint. The Höegh Gallant will serve the Old Harbour facility in Jamaica…

Offshore installation company Heerema Marine Contractors has completed the installation of BP's Cassia Compression (Cassia C) platform in Trinidad and Tobago.Heerema brought the Cassia Compression structures on July 15 from the Altamira fabrication yard.Using its semi-submersible heavy lift construction ship Thialf, Heerema finalized completion activities for the installation of the topside, bridge, and flare structures. The topsides were placed on a jacket installed by Heerema's Sleipnir vessel back in 2020.The topside of about 7…

Svitzer Caribbean Dominicana won a 5-year contract with Limetree Bay Refining, LLC, commencing June 15, 2019.The company expands its market coverage providing tugboat services to some of the key oil refineries and terminals in the region – South Riding Point Terminal in Bahamas, Nustar Terminal in Statia, Buckeye Terminal in St. Lucia and now Limetree Bay Refining in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.Svitzer Caribbean Dominicana adds this contract for two tugs to the company’s portfolio and believes Limetree Bay Refining will benefit from adding these young vessels to their operation, providing increased capabilities and overall service offerings.

Thirty-six hours after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, the port of San Juan was back up and running, scanning the incoming relief cargo as it arrived. Now, nearly a year after the historic storm, San Juan remains one of the most secure and efficient ports in the world, scanning and adjudicating cargo shipments at an unprecedented speed, with wait times similar to pausing at a stop light. It was the first and only port in the Western Hemisphere to scan near-100 percent of incoming containerized cargo (bulk, un-containerized cargo is not scanned).