Oct 3, 2026 — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Friday it has seized two ships it says were illegally carrying fuel to Cuba, escalating the Trump administration’s oil embargo against the island nation.
The larger prize was the Grace, a 300-foot tanker stopped Sept. 5 in the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Mexico. According to the Coast Guard, the vessel was “transiting to Cuba, carrying fuel, and was believed to be employing tactics common amongst the dark fleet” — the shadowy network of ships that use deceptive practices to evade sanctions enforcement.
A Coast Guard team boarded the Grace and escorted it to Progreso, Mexico, where a Mexican Navy inspection team “confirmed the presence of large quantities of fuel in the vessel’s ballast tanks,” the Coast Guard said in a statement. The vessel was also carrying several containers believed to hold illicit fuel.
ABC News first obtained video of the boarding, which shows Coast Guard agents in tactical gear, guns drawn, boarding the ship while a separate Coast Guard boat pulls alongside.
The Coast Guard also announced the seizure of a second Cuba-bound ship, the “Jaira Provider” — per the Coast Guard’s phrasing, though some ABC News versions spell the name “Jaria Provider.” The ship was seized June 28 carrying more than 200,000 gallons of fuel, also stored in ballast tanks.
“The high seas are not a sanctuary for lawlessness,” Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said in the statement. “Dark fleet actors who employ deceptive tactics to engage in illicit activities will not evade justice.”
The seizures come amid a U.S.-imposed oil blockade on Cuba, implemented earlier this year, which the Trump administration has said aims at forcing changes to Cuba’s government. The blockade has put the island under severe strain, with fuel shortages and prolonged blackouts exacerbated by failing infrastructure, according to U.S. officials.
Sources:
- Reuters
- ABC News
An oil tanker at sea. (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)