A tanker reportedly carrying Russian fuel bound for Cuba is using deceptive “dark fleet” tactics including signal manipulation and ship-to-ship offshore transfers, the Maritime Intelligence Agency said Upwind.
According to Maritime Traffic, the ship, named Sea Horse, was on the US east coast on Tuesday and the signal was noted as ‘roaming’.
The move comes as the US squeezed Cuba’s fuel supplies, disrupted deliveries and targeted oil-supplying third countries following new sanctions and the detention of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
On January 29, President Donald Trump also signed an executive order declaring a national emergency regarding Cuba and allowing tariffs on imports from countries that sell or supply oil there.
Windward reported that the The Russian oil tanker initially sailed out of Havana as its destination on February 7 and was flagged as “Hong Kong” before quietly changing course. Windward said the tanker was expected to arrive in Cuba in early March.
The Gabon-flagged crude oil tanker NS Concord in the Port of Matanzas in Matanzas, Cuba, on Saturday, March 30, 2024. (Yander Zamora/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The ship changed its Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal to indicate it would arrive in the “Caribbean Sea” within two weeks – a vague designation that the company says is often used to conceal a ship’s last port of call.
The destination was later switched again to Gibraltar for orders, even after the tanker had already crossed the strait, a move Windward described as inconsistent with the standard commercial route.
Windward’s analysis also shows that the ship loaded its cargo via a ship-to-ship transfer (STS) conducted offshore near Cyprus.
RUSSIAN OIL TANKER ‘THE GRINCH’ INTERCEPTED TO US, ALLIES ESCALATE SANCTIONS CRACKDOWN
A tanker flying the flag of Cuba arrives in the port of Havana on February 9. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)
During the loading process, the tanker’s AIS signal was temporarily disabled – “a tactic of deceptive maritime operations designed to avoid regulatory oversight,” Windward said.
Windward data also shows that the vessel’s draft increased on February 8, several days after leaving an area used for floating storage and transshipment of Russian middle distillate cargoes originating from Black Sea ports.
The tanker had been hanging around that area for about two weeks before leaving, Windward said.
“Ship-to-ship transfers outside territorial waters, where port state oversight is limited, have become a common practice in the oil trade to circumvent sanctions and regulatory oversight,” Windward said.
‘IRREGULAR’ ARMED GUARDIANS ON BOARD RUSSIAN SHADOW TANKERS ALERT NORDIS-BALTIC GOVERNMENT
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, right, with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in 2024. (Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The company added that AIS manipulation, offshore transfers and ambiguous destination reporting are now standard features of shadow fleet operations supporting Russian oil exports, despite any US sanctions.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Cuba is also facing an energy crisis that has worsened in recent weeks after oil supplies from Venezuela, its main supplier, were halted in early January following U.S. action.
Mexico, another major supplier, has also suspended oil shipments, he said The Associated Press.
Related article
