A Russian oil tanker reaches the coast of Cuba despite the US blockade.

This oil tanker under sanctions was on the verge of making it to the port of Matanzas Monday night.

The Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin was about to arrive in the port of Matanzas, near Havana, on the evening of Monday, March 30, according to data transmitted by its automatic identification system (AIS). It was sailing at a speed of 14 knots, carrying 730,000 barrels of crude oil for the island under a blockade by the United States.

This Aframax, 249.9 meters long and 118,316 tons deadweight, built in 2013, belongs to a company registered in Dubai. It is listed as a sanctioned vessel by the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada, and Switzerland. Interestingly, the United States apparently did not object to the ship entering Cuban waters, which had loaded oil in Primorsk, near St. Petersburg on March 8. According to The New York Times, citing an official note, the Trump administration authorized the tanker to continue its journey.

Since January and the American operation in Venezuela, which was Cuba’s main oil supplier, the island has not received any oil deliveries. Facing shortages to power its thermal plants, the island is experiencing frequent power cuts. It would take between 15 and 20 days to refine the oil and another 5 to 10 days to distribute the refined products, whose destination remains unknown.

Since the start of a campaign launched in December 2025 against the “ghost fleet” transporting oil to Venezuela, the United States has intercepted at least nine tankers, mainly in the Caribbean Sea, but also in the North Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. This campaign was initiated in early September 2025 with strikes on vessels accused of drug trafficking to the United States.

Article by the editorial team of Mer et Marine. Reproduction prohibited without the consent of the author(s).