A sanctioned Russian tanker is transporting more than 700,000 barrels of oil to Cuba
AFP reported on Wednesday, March 18, that according to data from the maritime tracking platform Kpler, a Russian tanker listed on Western sanctions is transporting more than 700,000 barrels of oil to Cuba. Currently, Cuba is facing a severe energy shortage due to the US blockade.
The tanker, named "Anatoly Kolodkin," loaded 730,000 barrels of crude oil at the port of Primorsk in Russia's Baltic Sea on March 8. According to Kpler's data, as of 16:00 GMT on Wednesday, the ship was sailing in the eastern Atlantic, heading for Cuba.
Kpler's data shows that the ship flies the Russian flag and belongs to the Russian state-owned shipping company Sovcomflot. It is expected to unload at the Matanzas oil terminal in northern Cuba around March 23.
The other tanker, "Sea Horse," which flies the Hong Kong flag, according to Kpler's data, loaded nearly 200,000 barrels of diesel near Cyprus in late January from another tanker.
According to the track data, the ship left the Mediterranean on February 13 and then sailed westward across the Atlantic. During the period from late February to early March, its speed slowed down and its route was irregular. As of 16:30 GMT on Wednesday, this ship was located in the northwest of the Caribbean Sea, about 1,500 km from the Cuban coast.
"Anatoly Kolodkin" is one of the vessels subject to sanctions by the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom against Russia.
President Trump further increased pressure on Cuba after overturning the Maduro regime in January, imposing an oil embargo on the island. Since Mexico ceased fuel supplies to Cuba on January 9 under Trump's pressure, Cuba has not imported oil for more than three months, marking an unprecedented energy supply disruption in recent decades.
Source: rfi
Original: toutiao.com/article/1860034751448074/
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