MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US allows Russian oil tanker to reach Cuba in easing of energy blockade

Russia had announced weeks earlier that it was considering sending crude to Cuba on humanitarian grounds, even though the decision amounted to a direct challenge to Washington

The United States authorized the passage of a Russian oil tanker loaded with crude bound for Cuba, in the first easing of the de facto energy blockade Washington has imposed on the island since the start of the year, The New York Times reported, citing a U.S. official.

The Russian-flagged tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, owned by state shipping company Sovcomflot, departed the port of Primorsk carrying an estimated 650,000 to 730,000 barrels of crude. Ship tracking data showed the vessel off Cuba's eastern tip on Sunday after entering the island's exclusive economic zone. It is expected to dock at the port of Matanzas on Tuesday, in what would be Cuba's first oil import in more than three months.

According to Reuters, the reason the U.S. Coast Guard allowed the vessel through has not been clarified. Blocking the tanker by force, however, could have raised tensions at sea with Russia. The Coast Guard referred queries to the White House, which did not immediately respond.

The shipment will provide significant relief to the island, which is enduring a severe energy crisis marked by widespread blackouts and gasoline rationing. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has said the country has gone three months without oil imports. The crisis worsened after the capture of Nicolás Maduro in January, which severed the preferential Venezuelan supply on which Cuba depended.

The Anatoly Kolodkin is sanctioned by the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. The Trump administration temporarily eased sanctions on Russia to improve the flow of crude on world markets following disruptions caused by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. 

Russia had announced weeks earlier that it was considering sending crude to Cuba on humanitarian grounds, even though the decision amounted to a direct challenge to Washington. The vessel initially declared a generic destination when it set sail on March 8 and was escorted by a Russian warship through European waters.

The authorization comes days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the White House is seeking a change of leadership on the island. “The Cuban economy needs to change, and its economy cannot change unless its system of government changes,” he said Friday from Miami. Trump himself said that same day that after Venezuela's fall and the attack on Iran, “Cuba will be next.”