U.S. State Department Expands Sanctions on Cuban Shipping

The Trump administration has sanctioned five ships and two people for allegedly serving Cuba's oil shipping network, and has rolled out broad sectoral sanctions covering Cuba's maritime industry as a whole.

Three of the vessels are tankers linked to Caroil Transport Marine, a Cypriot company that has been sanctioned by the U.S. since 2019. (The State Department re-sanctioned the firm for a second time on Thursday.) These ships include the Esperanza (IMO 9289166), Gloria C (IMO 9540273) and Maria Cristina (dIMO 9502453), all smaller vessels.

The remaining two vessels on the list - the LPG carrier Emilia (IMO 9242209) and the crude oil tanker Lourdes (IMO 9259692) - belong to Petroleos Maritimos Del Caribe S.A., a Cuban petroleum shipping company also known as Petromarca.

Newly-listed Cuban individuals include the ruling family member Guillermo Faustino Rodriguez Lopez Calleja, allegedly part of "an extensive network of maritime shipping companies moving petroleum products to and from Cuba." Lopez Calleja is better known as the uncle of "El Cangrejo" - Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, a high-ranking state security official and a descendent of Raúl Castro.

This story was originally published by The Maritime Executive. Read the full story at The Maritime Executive →