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US Coast Guard intercepts Cuba-bound fuel ship "Grace"
The US Coast Guard said on Oct 2 it intercepted the motor vessel "Grace," accused of carrying fuel to Cuba, in the Caribbean Sea — the latest move in the Trump administration's oil blockade against the island.
Why it matters
The US Coast Guard said on Friday, October 2, that it had intercepted a large cargo ship accused of carrying fuel to Cuba in defiance of the US oil blockade. It is the first such interdiction the Trump administration has publicly disclosed since the blockade was imposed earlier this year, marking a further escalation of pressure on Havana.
Full report
According to the Coast Guard, the motor vessel "Grace" was stopped on September 5 in the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Mexico while using tactics to evade authorities — what the agency calls "dark fleet" practices that conceal a ship's ownership, movements or cargo. A tactical team boarded the ship and escorted it to Mexico, where a Mexican Navy inspection team confirmed "large quantities of fuel" in the vessel's ballast tanks, plus several containers believed to hold more illicit fuel. The New York Times reported the ship is about 300 feet (91 metres) long.
"The high seas are not a sanctuary for lawlessness," said Admiral Kevin Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard. The Trump administration has openly stated its goal is to change Cuba's government. Since the US imposed the oil blockade earlier this year, Cuba's traditional suppliers — Venezuela and Mexico — ended shipments after the US ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, leaving the island with severe fuel shortages and blackouts. US Coast Guard cutters patrol the waters off Cuba, while sanctions and threats have dissuaded tankers from even setting sail. The Coast Guard did not say how much fuel the ship carried, what kind it was, or who owns the vessel.
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