Oil Tanker Loaded with Russian Fuel Arrives in Venezuelan Waters, Bound for Cuba

A tanker carrying some 200,000 barrels of Russia-origin fuel originally bound for Cuba has arrived in Venezuelan waters, LSEG ship-monitoring data showed on Friday.

The Hong Kong-flagged vessel Sea Horse, which this year loaded Russia-origin diesel through a ship-to-ship transfer, earlier this month rerouted from Cuba to Venezuela after remaining stuck in the Atlantic Ocean for weeks, a blow for the oil-thirsty island that has seen several power blackouts this month.

It was unclear why the Sea Horse had been stranded at sea, or why it had changed course to Venezuela.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is increasingly only authorizing fuel supplies to Cuba's private sector, while strictly blocking any oil imports by Cuba's government, even from its traditional suppliers Venezuela, Mexico and Russia.

The U.S. blockade has aggravated a long-standing energy crisis hitting electricity generation and fuel distribution in Cuba, including gasoline, diesel, cooking gas and jet fuel.

As of Friday, the Sea Horse was between the ports of El Palito and Puerto Cabello on Venezuela's coast. It has not discharged its cargo, according to the LSEG data.

Another Russia-origin cargo, on U.S.-sanctioned tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, was on Friday en route to Cuba. It could reach Cuban waters on the weekend if it does not reroute or slow down, the data also showed. The vessel departed from Russia's Primorsk port carrying some 650,000 barrels of crude.

Separately, two vessels carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba from Mexico, including medicines and energy-related goods were reported missing on Thursday after they failed to arrive in Havana as scheduled. There has been no communication from them and no confirmation of their arrival, Mexico's navy said.

(Reuters)