Grace escorted to Mexico as Trump oil embargo on Cuba continues
The US Coast Guard intercepted a 91-meter cargo ship carrying fuel bound for Cuba on September 5 in the Caribbean Sea, the agency said — the latest enforcement action under the Trump administration’s oil embargo against the island.
The vessel, named Grace, was stopped between Cuba and Mexico while using tactics to evade authorities, the Coast Guard said in a statement. A Coast Guard team boarded the ship and escorted it to Mexico, where a Mexican navy inspection team “confirmed the presence of large quantities of fuel in the vessel’s ballast tanks,” according to the statement. The vessel was also carrying several containers believed to contain illicit fuel.
The Coast Guard said the ship, which The New York Times reported was 91 meters (300 feet) long, was “transiting to Cuba, carrying fuel, and was believed to be employing tactics common amongst the dark fleet.” The agency’s statement did not say how authorities determined the fuel was headed to Cuba or how much fuel Grace was carrying.
The interception comes as Cuba contends with fuel shortages and blackouts exacerbated by failing infrastructure under the US-imposed oil blockade, which was implemented earlier this year. The Trump administration has openly stated that its goal is to change Cuba’s government.
Oil shipments from Cuba’s traditional suppliers, Venezuela and Mexico, ended abruptly after the United States ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, the Guardian reported. US Coast Guard cutters patrol the waters off Cuba, and sanctions and threats have dissuaded tankers from setting sail, according to the newspaper.
“The high seas are not a sanctuary for lawlessness,” Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said in the statement. “Dark fleet actors who employ deceptive tactics to engage in illicit activities will not evade justice.”