Cuba is currently facing the first strong blockade measure from the US since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
“In the long-term Cuba monitoring community, we always avoid using the word “blockade”. But in fact, this is indeed a blockade,” said Fulton Armstrong, a former Latin American analyst at the US Central Intelligence Agency, who has studied Cuba since 1984.
The United Nations has criticized the US policy as violating international law and exacerbating the plight of about 10 million Cubans.
To determine whether fuel is still being transported to Cuba, the New York Times conducted interviews and analyzed satellite images, seaport records and signal transmission data from many ships related to Cuba.
The results show that oil transportation to and from this island nation has almost stopped. Some ships are still trying to go out to sea to find fuel sources, but all are hindered by US policies.
On January 29, President Donald Trump declared a state of national emergency, making accusations against Cuba and threatening to impose tariffs on any country that supplies oil products to Cuba.
On the same day, the oil tanker Ocean Mariner docked at Barranquilla, Colombia and unloaded 84,579 barrels of fuel oil, according to the shipping data company Kpler.
This oil tanker used to regularly transport oil to Cuba, and even just delivered the last shipment from Mexico on January 9. However, when leaving Colombia, the ship signaled the destination was the Dominican Republic. On February 10, the ship suddenly changed direction towards Cuba.
On February 11, when only about 105km away from Cuba, Ocean Mariner suddenly turned around, seemingly realizing it was being tracked. A day later, the US Coast Guard ship approached, requesting the ship to declare its destination. Ocean Mariner declared that it was heading towards the Dominican Republic although in fact it had deviated significantly.
Data shows that the US Coast Guard escorted this ship for nearly 2 days, bringing the ship into the Dominican waters. The ship then anchored for several days with the fuel tank still full.
On February 19, the US Coast Guard ship continued to escort the Ocean Mariner north, heading to the Bahamas, where the ship signaled a new destination.
The New York Times' analysis also found that, in the context of a lack of traditional suppliers, Cuba has begun to seek fuel sources from some smaller countries in the Caribbean.
On February 9, the gasoline tanker Exelero left Cuba for Curacao. The 5-day journey consumed significant fuel for a country lacking fuel but seemed to yield no results.
The ship anchored at a port in Curacao for 9 hours before leaving. Oarwater data showed that the ship left port empty. The ship then moved to Jamaica and anchored near Kingston port from February 17.
Gas Exelero is considered the 4th ship linked to Cuba anchored near Kingston port, where Jamaica's only oil refinery is located, since October 2025. The exact reason is still unclear. Ship data and satellite images show that the ships did not dock and did not receive more cargo.
