Two Russian tankers carrying oil and diesel are bound for Cuba, one nearing U.S. military blockade

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Two tankers carrying Russian petroleum products are heading toward Cuba, with one approaching the zone of a U.S. naval blockade in the Caribbean.

The tanker Anatoly Kolodkin (IMO: 9610808) left the port of Primorsk on March 8 and is heading to the Cuban port of Matanzas, according to a Bloomberg report citing data from the analytics firm Kpler. The crew itself is broadcasting “Atlantic for order” as the destination. According to Bloomberg, the vessel is carrying about 730,000 barrels of Urals crude.

Anatoly Kolodkin is part of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” The Insider found. In February 2024, the United States imposed sanctions on the vessel as part of measures aimed at limiting Russia’s oil revenues. The United Kingdom later joined, adding the vessel to sanctions lists over its involvement in transporting Russian oil to third countries.

In 2025, Canada, the European Union, and Switzerland successively imposed sanctions on the tanker as a vessel linked to sanctioned entities. Ukraine also added it to its sanctions list. In February 2026, Australia imposed similar restrictions.

The second tanker currently making its way toward Cuba, Sea Horse (IMO: 9262584), has been trying to reach the island since late February. At that time, according to Kpler, it loaded about 200,000 barrels of Russian gasoil off the coast of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. On Feb. 25, the vessel switched off its AIS signal while located 560 nautical miles southeast of the Bahamas, and turned it back on only yesterday, March 17, resuming its movement toward the Caribbean basin, according to data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence.

The vessel is now sailing in international waters on the approaches to the Bahamian archipelago, where the risk of encountering U.S. military forces is high.

Pressure on Havana has intensified since the end of last year, when U.S. forces intercepted a vessel carrying Venezuelan oil bound for Cuba. After the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3, Donald Trump’s White House demanded a halt to fuel supplies to the island. The United States also threatened tariffs against countries supplying oil to Cuba, which led Mexico to stop exports.

The U.S. military presence in the Caribbean has effectively cut off Havana’s main fuel supply routes. Earlier, the tanker Ocean Mariner, which had regularly delivered oil to Cuba, also changed course and headed toward the Bahamas. The possible arrival of Russian tankers will test the effectiveness of the U.S. embargo.

Cuba needs about 100,000 barrels of oil a day, but its domestic production covers only about 40% of demand. The fuel shortage has already led to large-scale power outages and humanitarian problems.

Even if the oil is delivered, the effect will not be immediate. The crude must be refined, which may take 20 to 30 days. Against the backdrop of the continuing blockade, the country is approaching a critical point at which fuel supplies may be completely exhausted.