Spanish news agency EFE reported that the ship Nicos I.V. entered Matanzas Bay on February 16. The ship has IMO identification number 9103843 and is flying the Saint Vincent and Grenadines flag. According to observations, this oil tanker seems to be partially carrying cargo.
EFE said it could not confirm whether the ship departed from a port outside Cuba or not. However, if so, it would be the first ship to dock in Cuba since the Ocean Mariner arrived from Mexico with about 85,000 barrels of oil.
Unlucky like the Nicos I.V. ship, many other oil tankers could not reach Cuba. The Sea Horse oil tanker believed to be transporting Russian oil to Cuba suddenly changed direction across the Atlantic on February 25. This development is said to further exacerbate widespread power outages and economic stagnation in Cuba.
Based on Kpler's maritime analysis, the ship is likely to carry about 200,000 barrels of Russian oil, cargo determined after a previous crossover off Cyprus.
The change of direction took place at the right time Cuba faced a serious fuel shortage - from gas for cooking stoves, fuel for buses to electricity supply for households.
Available electricity output has decreased sharply since the beginning of the year, causing many areas to have prolonged power outages. Satellite images show that nighttime lighting in Cuba has decreased by up to 50% compared to before.
The situation worsened after the US seized a cargo ship heading to Cuba last year. US President Donald Trump's naval blockade policy in the Caribbean region is said to have made many commercial ships hesitant to approach this island.
At the same time, Washington also threatened to impose tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba, a move that forced Mexico - an important ally - to stop fuel shipments to Havana.
In that context, Sea Horse is seen as a new test for US enforcement measures to tighten Cuba's energy import supply. The ship's change of direction shows that pressure from Washington is having a clear impact on sea transport on the ground.
Not only Sea Horse, some other ships have also taken similar actions. Earlier this month, the Ocean Mariner - carrying about 30,000 barrels of diesel oil from Colombia - had diverted from Cuba and was said to have unloaded goods in the Bahamas, according to transport data.
US enforcement measures are said to have led to the seizure of at least 10 ships accused of transporting oil in violation of sanctions.
Meanwhile, facing the increasing risk of a humanitarian crisis, Washington has eased some restrictions, allowing fuel supply to the nascent private sector in Cuba in order to gradually make the country's economy more dependent on supply from the US.
US officials also left open the possibility of granting special licenses to companies wishing to supply Venezuelan oil to Cuba.
However, these "half-tightening, half-opening" moves are not enough to compensate for the large supply gap that Cuba is facing.
If oil tankers continue to turn around, the risk of this island nation falling into a vortex of power shortages, production stagnation and social instability will become even more real in the near future.
