The U.S. Coast Guard announced Friday that on September 5 it intercepted a large cargo ship, the M/V Grace, in the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Mexico while the vessel was carrying fuel toward Cuba and using maneuvers associated with the so-called "dark fleet" to evade authorities. The ship is about 300 feet (91 meters) long, the New York Times reported.
A Coast Guard tactical law enforcement team boarded the vessel and escorted it to Progreso, Mexico, where a Mexican Navy inspection team confirmed "large quantities of fuel" hidden in the ship's ballast tanks, plus several containers believed to hold illicit fuel. The agency did not disclose the amount or type of fuel, nor the vessel's ownership, flag, or intended recipient in Cuba.
"Grace was transiting to Cuba, carrying fuel, and was believed to be employing tactics common amongst the dark fleet," the Coast Guard said in a statement. How authorities determined the destination was Cuba was attributed only to intelligence.
"Illicit fuel shipments violate international law and pose severe environmental threats in the Caribbean Sea," said Vice Adm. Nate Moore, the Coast Guard's deputy commandant for operations. Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday was blunter: "The high seas are not a sanctuary for lawlessness. Dark fleet actors who employ deceptive tactics to engage in illicit activities will not evade justice."
The operation involved the cutters Alert and Charles Sexton, an HC-144 surveillance aircraft, Tactical Law Enforcement Team South, and Southeast District personnel.
The interception extends the Trump administration's oil blockade of Cuba, imposed earlier this year with the openly stated goal of changing the island's government. Under the blockade, Cuba is enduring severe fuel shortages and blackouts on top of failing infrastructure.
Oil from Cuba's traditional suppliers, Venezuela and Mexico, ended abruptly after the U.S. ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January. Coast Guard cutters patrol the waters off Cuba, while sanctions and threats have dissuaded tankers from even setting sail. The Grace is not the first boarding: the Coast Guard earlier detained the M/V Jaira Provider, also accused of carrying illicit fuel to Cuba.
For Cuba's 11 million people, every intercepted shipment means longer blackouts and less transport. For the Caribbean, fuel hidden in ballast tanks is itself an environmental hazard — the tanks are not designed for petroleum cargo, and a leak would hit coastal fishing and marine ecosystems first.
Mexico's cooperation is also notable: the vessel was escorted to a Mexican port for inspection, signaling U.S.-Mexican coordination on this enforcement front.
Lunday has vowed to keep targeting vessels using deceptive shipping practices. With regime change the stated objective, the maritime fuel blockade of Cuba will only get tighter. Smugglers are now left wondering where the next Grace will be caught.