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Two ships heading to power-starved Cuba carrying Russian oil and fuel are expected to arrive as early as next week, in defiance of US President Donald Trump's energy embargo, according to maritime intelligence companies.
If the ships arrive, they will be the first energy shipments from Cuba in three months. The island was plunged into a complete nationwide blackout when its entire grid collapsed on Monday, before gradually regaining power on Tuesday, deepening a bitter economic crisis.
The Hong Kong-flagged Sea Horse, believed to be carrying about 27,000 tons of Russian gas, was heading toward the island after it appeared to have strayed from its course last month. The ship is expected to arrive in Cuba on Monday.
The Russian-flagged ship Anatoly Kolodkin, carrying about 100,000 tons of crude oil, equivalent to 725,000 to 728,000 barrels depending on the grade of oil, was estimated to arrive in Cuba on April 4, Madani added.
Earlier this week, Trump predicted he would "have the honor of taking over Cuba in some way," after previously talking about a "friendly takeover" of the Caribbean nation.
"If I release him, if I take him, I think I can do whatever I want with him, if you want to know the truth. They are a very weakened nation right now," Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
Speculation is mounting that Trump is trying to force the removal of President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who last week confirmed that Cuba is talking to the US administration in an effort to end the energy blockade.
The last shipment of oil from Cuba was a shipment from Mexico on January 9, but since then Mexico appears to have caved in to Trump's pressure to halt further shipments. No shipments have come from its longtime ally Venezuela since December, after US forces intervened to depose leader Nicolás Maduro.
On Tuesday, Díaz-Canel warned that any "external aggressor" would encounter "invincible resistance."
"The United States publicly threatens Cuba, almost every day, with the overthrow of the constitutional order by force. They openly plan to invade the country, its resources, property and even the economy that they are trying to suffocate, to force us to lose," Díaz-Canel wrote in X on Tuesday.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Russia reaffirms its unwavering solidarity with the fraternal government and people of Cuba. The fuel on the Sea Horse was identified as Russian by intelligence firm Kpler, according to a report by Bloomberg News. The Anatoly Kolodkin, a Russian-flagged vessel, is transporting Russian Urals oil, Kpler said.
Cuba produces only about 40 percent of the oil needed to supply national demand and has long relied on imports from friendly countries, including the Soviet Union during the Cold War, to power homes, tourism and agricultural industries.
Venezuela had been the country's main beneficiary, sending oil in exchange for doctors and counterintelligence operatives until U.S. forces arrested Maduro on January 3. Cuba would also repurchase some of these shipments, giving it desperately needed foreign currency.
The island, just 90 miles (145 km) from the Florida Keys, is mired in a humanitarian crisis that has been exacerbated by the US energy crisis. Hospitals have canceled operations, while food delivery and garbage collection services have been disrupted. Airlines, starved of fuel, have grounded flights.
The communist regime's official mouthpiece, Granma, has highlighted an initiative to install solar panels, calling it "the light and energy that they cannot block."
The government has also invited Cubans in exile to invest and own businesses on the island, as part of a broader effort to boost the burgeoning private sector. However, a broad U.S. embargo on Cuba, which has long been supported by much of the diaspora, would hinder broader trade and investment.
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