A loaded oil tanker docked in a port in western Cuba despite the ongoing blockade from the United States, according to a new report.
Spanish news agency EFE detailed that the Nicos I.V. entered the bay of Matanzas on Monday. The vessel’s identification code is IMO 9103843, its flag being from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It appears to be partially loaded.
The outlet could not confirm whether the ship came from a port outside Cuba, but should that be the case it would be the first such vessel docking there since the Ocean Mariner arrived from Mexico with about 85,000 barrels of oil.
Ship-tracking platforms did not spot the Nicos I.V. in a Cuban port over the past week, but EFE noted it could be operating in the country’s waters without disclosing its location.
Cuba’s energy system has been stretched thin since the end of substantial oil deliveries from Venezuela, a development that analysts say has deepened what many on the island call the worst energy crisis in decades. Restrictions on fuel sales and a government emergency plan that reduced the work week are among the measures instituted to conserve dwindling supplies.
Compounding to the challenges, a massive fire broke out Friday afternoon at the Ñico López oil refinery in Havana Bay. The state Ministry of Energy and Mines later confirmed that the fire, which erupted in one of the refinery’s warehouses, was contained and that investigators are working to determine what sparked the blaze. The official post on the ministry’s social media account reaffirmed that authorities were managing the situation.
The Ñico López facility, Cuba’s largest and oldest refinery, has long been a linchpin in the nation’s fragile energy infrastructure. It processes crude into the fuels that keep transportation and electricity grids running. Before recent global shifts in oil flows, it also served as a primary unloading point for petroleum shipments from Mexico.
In the meantime, the Trump administration continues warning the regime it cannot continue down the current path. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during the weekend that it would need to allow the people “more freedom” if it wants to avoid losing power.
Speaking to Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Rubio was asked if there is an “off ramp” for the regime as the U.S. continues to intensify pressure on Havana.
“It is important for the people of Cuba to have more freedom. not just political but economic. The regime is not willing to give it to them. It is afraid that if the people of Cuba can provide for themselves they lose control over them,” he said.
“The regime has survived almost entirely on subsidies,” Rubio added. “First from the Soviet Union, then Hugo Chavez. Now they don’t have any. the model has been laid bare,” he added.
Originally published on Latin Times
