Navy searching for two boats that left Isla Mujeres last week bound for Havana with nine crew members of different nationalities on board
Mexico’s navy said on Thursday it had activated a search-and-rescue operation in the Caribbean to locate two sailboats carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba after the vessels failed to arrive in Havana as scheduled.
In a statement, the navy said the two boats left Isla Mujeres, in the Mexican Caribbean state of Quintana Roo, last week bound for Havana with nine crew members of different nationalities on board.
The vessels had been expected to arrive between 24 and 25 March, but there had been no communication from them and no confirmation of their arrival, the navy said.
The two missing boats are part of a broader grassroots aid effort for energy-strapped Cuba, which has been suffering prolonged power outages and a deepening economic crisis after the US tightened an embargo on oil and other goods. A separate vessel from the convoy arrived in Havana on Tuesday.
