US sanctions pressure forced Russian tanker to abandon course to Cuba

The sanctioned tanker Universal, which was supposed to deliver about 242 thousand barrels of diesel fuel to Cuba, has abruptly changed course to the south after a month of drifting in the Atlantic.

This is reported by The New York Times.

The tanker left Russia in early April. After passing through the English Channel, accompanied by a frigate, the ship headed for Cuba, but in mid-April it stopped about 1,600 km from the island and drifted in place for almost a month. On May 27, Universal sharply accelerated — from 1.3 to 10.5 knots — and headed southeast, towards the South Atlantic. Tracking services still do not record a specific port of destination.

It is worth noting that Universal is under sanctions from the US, EU and Great Britain. A similar situation has already happened before. The tanker Sea Horse, which was also heading to Cuba with Russian diesel fuel, turned around and went to Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.

Cuba has been in a difficult situation since the Trump administration imposed a de facto oil embargo on the island earlier this year. Russia remains the only supplier that has managed to break through the restrictions. In March, the tanker Anatoly Kolodkin delivered 730,000 barrels of crude oil, but that supply has already been depleted. Due to fuel shortages, electricity is available on the island for only a few hours a day, and gasoline can practically only be found on the black market.

Jorge Pinyon, director of the Latin American and Caribbean Energy Program at the University of Texas, said the Universal cargo could provide Cuba with significant, albeit temporary, support. He estimated that the diesel on board was worth about $25 million and was supposed to be given to the island for free. Now Russia stands to make a pretty hefty profit.

“It’s hypocritical — cynical — that on the one hand they talk about efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz, and on the other hand they are actually imposing a naval blockade on Cuba,” the diplomat said, calling the US actions “a fuel blockade that is in practice an act of war.”

The White House, however, denies that the crisis is caused by Washington.

“The real reason you don’t have electricity, fuel or food is because those who control your country have stolen billions of dollars and used none of it to help the people,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded.

Meanwhile, drones attacked three tankers of the Russian “shadow fleet” off the coast of Turkey.