the oil tanker SCF Prime, with the Liberian flag and an approximate capacity of 530,000 barrels, arrived this Tuesday in Havana Bay from the Russian port of Tuapse. It is the first tanker to arrive on the Island after the oil supply agreement between Russia and Cuba and, although it was provided that unloaded in Matanzas on July 2, ended up arriving in the capital.
Through the maritime monitoring web pages, this newspaper followed the ship trajectory from its departure from Tuapse, on June 3, until it arrived on the Cuban coast a month later, on July 4. The ship disappeared from the radar and does not appear on the lists of ships anchored in any Cuban port.
However, the photographs captured this Tuesday by 14ymedio confirm that the tanker is anchored in front of the refinery in the capital, although it is unknown if it will travel to other port terminals in the country.
The arrival of SCF Prime It had also been announced by the academic and specialist from the University of Texas (USA) Jorge Piñón. A report on the transfer of oil tankers traveling to the Island –with both Cuban and foreign flags–, offered by Piñón to this newspaper, indicated that fuel traffic through the Island continues to increase.
This Tuesday the tankers were also detected by the Vesselfinder page Caribbean Alliance, with the Panamanian flag, anchored in Mariel; in Cienfuegos are the Glory C. -which operates under the Cuban flag- and the Ocean Integrity, also with the flag of Panama. Meanwhile, in Matanzas the arrival of the Nicos IV and of the Wilmaa Cuban tanker that sailed from Havana this Tuesday, the same day that the SCF Prime.
The ship disappeared from the radar and does not appear on the lists of ships anchored in any Cuban port
Cuba’s allied countries continue to send oil to the island. On June 17, Mexican journalist Gerardo Aburto accused President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of “giving away oil to the oppressive government of Cuba.” An invoice, published by Aburto himself, shows how the state monopoly Pemex sold 350,000 barrels of Istmo oil (a variant of crude used to make gasoline) to Gasolineras del Bienestar, a government program to support state institutions and private initiative in Mexico. , diesel, jet fuel and kerosene) to send them to the Island. The name of the tanker also appears in the document Delsa and the entity to which the fuel is delivered: Unión Cuba Petróleo (Cupet).
No other official instance, such as Customs or other Pemex departments, was notified of the transaction through the proper documentation. The journalist calculates that the value of the cargo can be set between 18 and 20 million dollars.
The ship that transported the cargo was the Delsaone of the six oil tankers with the Cuban flag –along with Wilma, Alicia, Sandino, Pastorita and Glory C.– which usually loads crude from the Venezuelan port of José to the island’s terminals.
About these ships, Piñón explained to 14ymedio that the Vilma – which also disappears from radar as soon as it approaches the Cuban coast – arrived in Cienfuegos on June 1 with 390,000 barrels of crude from José; the same amount charged the Delsaalso from José, to the port of Antilla, on the 30th.
For his part, he Sandino it sailed from José with 440,000 barrels to Nipe Bay, in Holguín, where it arrived on May 5. Meanwhile he Alicia it brought 290,000 barrels to Havana from José on May 16 and another 295,000, coming from another Venezuelan terminal, Amuay, on the 28th.
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