Related videos:
The tanker Sandino arrived at the port of Matanzas this Saturday, coming from Nipe Bay (Holguín), one of Cuba's main logistical points for the reception, storage, and transshipment of hydrocarbons.
According to data from maritime monitoring sites, the vessel has an estimated capacity of between 390,000 and 410,000 barrels. However, there are no official details regarding the actual volume transported.
In previous days, it had arrived at the bay of Nipe. Cuba uses the bay of Nipe as an oil port with functions for receiving, transshipping, and storing imported crude oil, supported by the Antilla terminal and anchorages for supertankers.
Through the Antilla terminal and its anchorage, the country receives shipments on large vessels and then redistributes them via smaller tankers to ports and refineries such as Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Havana, or Santiago de Cuba, in a logistical scheme that is crucial for internal supply.
During the first weeks of 2026, the energy crisis in Cuba has revealed a profound deterioration in the regime's ability to ensure the supply of fuel.
The year began with alarming signs: six ships operated by the military conglomerate GAESA concentrated the last available oil reserves in the bay of Matanzas, according to reports from independent sources.
Experts then warned that the country was "emptying its own tanks to buy time," while electricity generation and fuel distribution were on the brink of collapse.
In mid-January, the situation worsened with the diversion of the Mia Grace tanker, which had departed from Togo to Cuba carrying a load of diesel or fuel oil.
In the midst of its journey across the Atlantic, the ship changed its course towards the Dominican Republic, reflecting the difficulties faced by the Cuban government in securing supply agreements and the increasing financial isolation that prevents it from accessing traditional energy markets.
Few days later, the tanker LPG Emilia was detected sailing south of Cuba with a possible load of liquefied petroleum gas.
The reactivation of its movement, after more than a month of inactivity, was interpreted as an attempt by the regime to sustain the minimum distribution of domestic energy. However, its journey also highlighted the island's dependence on an aging fleet, almost entirely operated by state-controlled entities.
In February, a new indication of Cuba's energy precariousness emerged from Venezuela.
A tanker linked to the island loaded 150,000 barrels of gasoline at a Venezuelan port, in what analysts consider an effort to resume fuel shipments under U.S. supervision.
The operation coincided with the worsening of queues at gas stations, prolonged blackouts, and restrictions on public transportation, signs of an energy system on the brink of structural collapse.
The concatenation of these episodes shows that Cuba is experiencing an energy crisis that goes beyond the occasional shortage of fuel.
The lack of solid allies, the reduction of supplies from Venezuela, and the inability to access international credit have led the country to operate with minimal reserves and rely on sporadic shipments.
In this context, the arrival of a tanker in Matanzas, such as the Sandino, is perceived less as a sustained relief and more as a temporary reprieve amid a landscape of economic and energy exhaustion.
Filed under: