US Expands Sanctions on Cuba's Oil Shipping Network and Key Sectors

The United States government expanded its sanctions campaign against Cuba by designating five vessels, eight companies and two individuals linked to the island's oil shipping network. The State Department announced the measures on November 5, while in parallel the Treasury Department, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), established blanket sanctions covering Cuba's maritime, electronics, manufacturing and technology sectors, effective immediately for any foreign person operating in those areas.

The five Cuban-flagged vessels sanctioned are the tankers Esperanza (IMO 9289166), Maria Cristina (IMO 9502453) and Gloria C (IMO 9540273), commercially managed by Cyprus-based Caroil Transport Marine, as well as the gas carrier Emilia (IMO 9242209) and the crude oil tanker Lourdes (IMO 9259692), operated by the Cuban company Petroleos Maritimos del Caribe S.A. (Petromarca). Gloria C is owned by the Panamanian firm Tentacool Commercial, while Esperanza belongs to the Cuban company Internacional Maritima. Emilia and Gloria C were added to the blocked property list for the first time, according to Maritime Executive and GCaptain.

Among the sanctioned individuals is Guillermo Faustino Rodríguez López-Calleja, whom Washington links to an extensive network of shipping companies dedicated to transporting oil to and from Cuba. Also designated was Any Rodríguez Lastres, former commercial director of the Mariel Container Terminal and daughter of Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, president of the Business Administration Group (GAESA), although according to Ports News Russia she was not identified as part of the oil network.

Several of those named were already under sanctions: Caroil Transport Marine was placed on the blacklist in 2019, as were the vessels Esperanza and Maria Cristina, meaning the new measure expands previous restrictions under Executive Order 14404. The package also designates Cuban state enterprises Cubaelectrónica and Tecnosime, as well as the Chinese firms China National Electronic Import and Export Company (CEIEC) and Beijing H&C Technologies, which Washington accuses of supplying military-use equipment to Cuba.

The sanctions block the designated entities' assets under US jurisdiction and generally prohibit US persons from doing business with them, while foreign companies providing services to the named parties could also be exposed to sanctions. Washington clarified that authorized humanitarian trade, including food and medicine, remains exempt from the restrictions. According to GCaptain, the measure comes at a time when Cuba is facing fuel shortages and power outages, making energy imports all the more significant.