A tanker carrying Russian fuel oil arrived in Cuba on
Thursday July 14th, giving Russia another outlet for energy products it can no
longer supply to the West.
Liberia-flagged Aframax tanker Suvorovsky Prospect (IMO 9522324) arrived in Matanzas Port with
about 700,000 barrels of fuel oil on board. It had been loaded at Ust-Luga port, Russia. The cargo is worth
some $70m at market prices.
The vessel is owned by a unit of Russian shipping
conglomerate Sovcomflot,. Sovcomflot is under UK, Canadian and US sanctions.
Cuba relies on Venezuela as the main source of energy
imports, but it has been forced to make expensive spot fuel purchases as Venezuela
struggles to meet its own domestic demand.
Venezuela has sent some 56,610 barrels per day (bpd) of
crude, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and fuel oil to Cuba so far this year,
slightly below 2021 levels, according to state-run PDVSA documents and data.
Brazil’s foreign affairs minister this week said the
country will import as much diesel as possible from Russia to supply drivers and
the agricultural industry.
2011-built, Liberia-flagged, 62,504 gt Suvorosvsky
Prospect is owned by Raintree Marine SA care of manager SCF Management Services
(Dubai) of DIFC, Dubai, UAE. No AIS since July 13th, when it was en route to
Matanzas, Cuba, ETA July 16th.
