Cuba readies first Russian oil shipment of year as power crisis deepens

Cuba is preparing to receive what would be its first Russian oil shipment of the year as the island’s power crisis deepens and severe outages continue to disrupt daily life, energy expert Jorge Piñón told The Associated Press. Piñón said the Russian-flagged tanker Anatoly Kolodkin is currently about 3,000 nautical miles from Cuba and expected to reach the island in roughly 10 days. He said Cuba is operating under strain on a deteriorating grid even after the government said it has been using natural gas, solar power and thermoelectric plants to cope with severe power cuts.

Piñón said the Anatoly Kolodkin is carrying 730,000 barrels of fuel and is on a list of vessels of its type sanctioned by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom following Russia’s war in Ukraine. He said it is difficult to estimate how long the shipment would sustain Cuba’s needs because the cargo is crude that must be refined into liquid fuels, with different products requiring different amounts to meet demand. Piñón said the anticipated shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, which he described as enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.

A second vessel is also in the mix, Piñón said. He said another ship, the Hong Kong-flagged Sea Horse, is reportedly carrying Russian oil to Cuba and is transporting about 200,000 barrels of diesel. Piñón said Cuba consumes roughly 20,000 barrels of diesel per day and that Sea Horse’s cargo does not necessarily cover overall diesel demand because the island’s storage inventories are low. He added that if Sea Horse is heading to Cuba, it would likely take about four days to arrive, and he said the vessel lingered for 20 days in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean before continuing its west-southwestward journey.

Piñón said tracking the intended destination of such vessels can be challenging because some ships—amid tensions tied to sanctions or threats of capture by the United States—turn off their satellite tracking devices. He said that if the arrival of either of the two tankers is confirmed, it would be Cuba’s first shipment of Russian oil this year. He noted that the previous Russian oil shipment detected arrived on Jan. 9, when the Ocean Mariner transported 85,000 barrels from Mexico’s port of Pajaritos.

The developments also come as U.S. officials continue to monitor Russian activity in the Caribbean. In Senate testimony, Gen. Francis Donovan, head of the U.S. Southern Command, said his officers are tracking a Russian destroyer supported by an oil replenishment ship scheduled to make a port call to Cuba. Donovan said that even if the oiler unloads its cargo, it is unlikely to have significant impact on Cuba’s oil supplies, and he said his command is not rehearsing for any military intervention in Cuba, with its sole planning focus on protecting the U.S. Embassy and the military base in Guantánamo Bay.

Cuba produces barely 40% of its petroleum, the AP report said, with the rest obtained from Russia, Mexico and Venezuela. But shipments have been disrupted in recent months: critical supplies from Venezuela were halted after the United States attacked the South American country in early January and arrested then-President Nicolás Maduro. The AP report also said that in late January, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba, and that in the same month Mexico halted its oil shipments to the island.

The worsening supply situation has contributed to intensified energy and economic crises, including 10-hour blackouts that have forced Cuba to reduce working hours, limit transportation and contribute to a drop in tourism. The AP report said the disruptions have also sparked small protests, and it described a broader economic crisis tied to tightened U.S. sanctions, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and an internal financial reform that triggered inflation, alongside food and medicine shortages.

Amid the energy squeeze, the report said Cuba is also preparing to receive humanitarian aid tied to an international convoy. The AP report said European activists delivered more than four tons of medical supplies this week, while Brazil announced it would send 20,000 tons of food, mainly rice, beans and powdered milk, and Chilean parliamentarians arrived with more aid on Thursday. More aid is expected to arrive Friday by plane and Saturday via a large flotilla carrying solar panels, medical supplies and nonperishable food collected by activists in Mexico, according to the AP report, which said the flotilla will consist of three ships, 30 tons of humanitarian aid and 40 people.

Thiago Ávila, one of the organizers, said that although the situation in Cuba differs from Gaza, the group has conducted a risk assessment in case of any unexpected decision by the Trump administration and is prepared for any eventuality. The AP report said Trump has said he is prepared to take Cuba by any means necessary, while the Cuban government has defended its sovereignty even as it acknowledges talks with the United States.