USA Seizes Control Of Cargo Ship Carrying Suspected Illicit Fuel To Cuba

A U.S. Coast Guard tactical team seized control of the Motor Vessel Grace in early September after an international enforcement effort identified the vessel as carrying fuel to Cuba.

The team boarded the cargo ship while it was underway. The vessel was believed to be using tactics common among the so-called dark fleet.

Coast Guard Cutters Alert and Charles Sexton escorted the M/V Grace to Progreso, Mexico, where a Mexican Navy inspection team confirmed large quantities of fuel in the vessel’s ballast tanks. Several containers were also believed to contain illicit fuel.

The Coast Guard said storing fuel in ballast tanks creates a hazard to the marine environment and that the interdiction prevented an unregulated transfer at sea. The agency did not provide the volume of fuel found aboard the vessel.

The operation also involved an HC-144 aircraft, Tactical Law Enforcement Team South and Southeast District. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin Lunday said dark-fleet operators “will not evade justice,” while Vice Admiral Nate Moore said illicit fuel shipments threaten the Caribbean.