The Cuban tanker Eugenia Gas received authorization on March 2, 2026 to load liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at Puerto José, Venezuela, becoming the first successful cargo of this type from a Cuban vessel since late 2025.
The information was confirmed through AIS tracking and by energy expert Jorge Piñón. According to reports from 14ymedio, the ship spent "two months drifting in the Caribbean" before obtaining authorization in Venezuela.
The ship, which sails under the flag of Belize and is part of the Cuban coastal fleet, spent approximately two months traveling through the Caribbean in search of LPG supplies without success. Among the failed attempts of the "Eugenia Gas" is a rejection in Kingston, Jamaica, which occurred three weeks before the publication, and another in Curacao.
Jamaica rejected the operation out of fear of commercial reprisals from the United States, following the decree signed by President Donald Trump on January 29, which sanctions those who supply fuel to Cuba. This was not the only case. The tanker Emilia also returned empty to Cuba in early February, after being turned away in Jamaica. Analyst Piñón noted at the time that "Jamaica was saved by minutes" from being exposed to U.S. tariffs.
There are doubts about who sold the fuel that will load the "Eugenia Gas." The supplier could be PDVSA directly, or the commodity trading firms Vitol or Trafigura, which obtained individual licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury in January of this year, for the resale of Venezuelan crude oil, with exports directed to the United States and several European countries.
This shipment also takes on a significant political dimension: it would be the first delivery of fuel from Venezuela to Cuba following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. special forces on January 3, 2026, during the operation called "Absolute Determination." Maduro, who referred to himself as a "prisoner of war" and "constitutional president" after his detention, faces charges of drug trafficking and narco-terrorism in a federal court in New York.
The operation of "Eugenia Gas" occurs in the context of a severe energy crisis in Cuba. The country needs approximately 110,000 barrels daily of fuel, but only produces around 40,000 internally. Venezuela, which historically provided 50,000 barrels daily through PDVSA, has reduced its supply to between 10,000 and 30,000 barrels daily since 2024, worsening the deficit on the Island.
The shortage of LPG has direct consequences for the population. More than 100,000 households in the province of Matanzas have been without regular supply since January 2025, forcing families to cook with firewood or charcoal. On the electrical front, Cuba is facing a deficit of 2,000 megawatts that impacts 64% of the country.
Two more tankers complete the energy supply picture for Cuba in these weeks. The "Jasper," flagged from Cameroon and Vanuatu and sanctioned by the European Union, arrived on December 23, 2025 with 330,000 barrels of Russian crude in Matanzas and Santiago de Cuba without the United States preventing its arrival. Meanwhile, the "Sea Horse," flagged from Hong Kong, was located this Sunday 1,463 nautical miles off the north coast of Cuba, moving at a minimum speed of 0.8 knots and supposedly loaded with 200,000 barrels of Russian fuel, although Moscow denied this information.
The presidential decree from Trump in January 2026 has been a decisive factor in the failure of multiple supply attempts in the Caribbean, pushing the Cuban regime to rely almost exclusively on Venezuela and Russia, both of which have their own logistical and political limitations. If the load of "Eugenia Gas" is completed and the ship arrives in Cuba without setbacks, it would represent a short-term relief but not enough to address an energy crisis that has no short-term solution.
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