Russia's attempt to send fuel to crisis-hit Cuba has hit a setback after a sanctioned tanker carrying diesel failed to reach the island and spent weeks drifting in the Atlantic, according to maritime tracking data reviewed by exiled investigative outlet The Insider.
The tanker Universal, carrying around 270,000 barrels of diesel fuel, departed Russia in April bound for Cuba but spent the past month drifting in the Sargasso Sea, roughly 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) northeast of the Caribbean island, before changing course south toward Brazil, The Insider reported, citing data from vessel-tracking service Starboard Maritime Intelligence.
The vessel's destination is currently listed as "For order" — a maritime designation indicating it is awaiting further routing instructions or a final destination.
The Insider said this suggested U.S. authorities had not permitted the tanker to proceed to Cuba.
The Universal departed from the Russian Baltic port of Vistino in the Leningrad region on April 6 and, according to Britain's The Telegraph, was escorted through the English Channel by a Russian military convoy.
