The vessel Gas Exelero, dedicated to the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Cuba and registered under the flag of the Marshall Islands, has once again found itself at the center of Cuba's energy crisis after failing in its attempt to load fuel in Curacao.
Now heading to Kingston, Jamaica, in a new attempt to supply the island with gas, a resource that is becoming increasingly scarce for the population.
The energy specialist from the University of Texas, Jorge Piñón, confirmed to CiberCuba that the operation in the city of Willemstad did not succeed.
“There was no successful purchase in Willemstad. It entered through the mouth of the bay on 2/15 at 00:10 UTC and exited the bay entrance 9 hours later at 09:20 UTC,” the expert explained.
Piñón also specified that the ship never carried out loading maneuvers.
“The storage tanks at the ISLA refinery are 2.3 mn deep in the bay.... it never docked at the refinery’s piers, let alone loaded LPG”, he added.
The brief time spent in the harbor confirms that the tanker did not acquire the product it was looking for.
Its current draft of 4.2 meters reinforces this conclusion: the vessel maintains almost the same flotation level as when it arrived, indicating that it did not load LPG.
Piñón also clarified a relevant aspect about this type of vessel, amidst frequent speculation: the Gas Exelero and other tankers are not "rented."
“They display the flag of the countries where they are legally registered and adhere to that country’s maritime regulations,” he pointed out.
A new attempt after other failures
The Gas Exelero is not the only ship that has traveled through the Caribbean in recent weeks searching for LPG for Cuba without success.
Before the episode in Curacao, the Eugenia Gas attempted to load in Kingston, Jamaica, but also failed and returned to Santiago de Cuba without fuel.
It was the second failed attempt in less than a month, after the Emilia - which operates under the Cuban flag - also failed to acquire LPG in the Jamaican capital at the end of January.
Maritime traffic records indicated that the Emilia departed and returned with the same draft, a clear sign that it failed to load.
Jamaica had been a regular supplier of liquefied gas to Cuba.
However, the tightening of the international scenario has complicated those operations, especially following the enactment of an order signed by the U.S. president, Donald Trump, which threatens to impose tariffs on any country that supplies fuel to the Island.
Each failed trip incurs additional fuel costs for an economy that is already facing severe energy constraints.
The lack of fuel not only affects the availability of LPG for cooking but also significantly impacts the national electric system, which is already struggling with prolonged blackouts and a generation deficit.
A recent analysis by Bloomberg, based on satellite images of light levels emitted by the Island, concluded that brightness has dropped by up to 50% in cities such as Santiago de Cuba and Holguín, compared to their historical average.
This is compounded by the long lines to buy gasoline across the country, as well as the enormous increase in road travel costs, whether for interprovincial journeys or short trips.
A race against time
While more restrictions and sanctions on electricity consumption are being imposed within the country, ships connected to Cuba continue to desperately search for gas to alleviate the domestic shortages.
After the unsuccessful stop in Curacao, the Gas Exelero is now trying its luck in Kingston, the same port where other recent attempts ended in failure.
If it is not able to load in Jamaica either, the cooking gas crisis in Cuba could worsen even further in the coming weeks, directly affecting millions of households that rely on LPG to prepare their meals amid increasingly frequent blackouts.
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