Gas ship Exelero on its way to Cienfuegos from Jamaica: Did it finally manage to stock up or is it returning empty?

The tanker Gas Exelero is back at sea heading to Cuba after its unsuccessful supply attempt in Curacao and subsequent journey to Kingston, Jamaica, in search of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Recent records of maritime traffic place it in the Caribbean heading to Cienfuegos, a key port for receiving LPG on the island.

The vessel, registered under the flag of the Marshall Islands, had spent only nine hours in Willemstad on February 15, without performing any loading maneuvers, as confirmed at that time by energy specialist Jorge Piñón to CiberCuba. The ship left with the same draft with which it entered: 4.2 meters.

Now, several monitoring platforms show tank occupancy levels between 96% and 98% of their total capacity, which has sparked speculation about whether it has finally managed to load fuel in Jamaica.

However, the reported draft remains at 4.2 meters, the same level observed after leaving Curaçao. In vessels of this type, a significant increase in cargo typically corresponds to a greater immersion in the water, raising technical questions about whether the gas carrier actually managed to load nearly 3,000 metric tons of LPG.

So far, there is no independent confirmation that Gas Exelero has completed a loading operation in Kingston.

The return of the ship occurs in a context of growing pressure on the Cuban energy supply, characterized by failed attempts of freighters in the Caribbean and a fuel crisis affecting both electric service and domestic access to cooking gas.

If the Gas Exelero was unable to secure supplies in Jamaica, the uncertainty regarding the supply of LPG could extend, directly impacting millions of households that rely on this resource to prepare their meals amidst increasingly frequent power outages.