Mexico searches for missing boats ferrying aid to Cuba

2026-03-27 - 14:21

The Mexican Navy was searching on Friday for two sailboats that went missing while transporting humanitarian aid to crisis-hit Cuba, a week after leaving Mexico. The vessels set sail last Friday from Isla Mujeres in Mexico’s southeastern state of Quintana Roo, with nine crew of different nationalities on board, Mexico’s navy said Thursday in a statement. But communication with the crew was lost, it added. “We express our deep concern for the two Mexican vessels transporting humanitarian aid to Cuba as part of the Our America Convoy,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on social media platform X. “From our country, we are doing everything possible in the search and rescue of these brothers in arms,” Diaz-Canel said. Humanitarian mission amid deepening crisis The international convoy has brought 50 tonnes of medical supplies, food, solar panels and other goods to support Cuba as the US fuel blockade has deepened the communist-ruled island’s energy and economic crisis. The first shipments arrived by plane from Europe and the United States last week. A fishing boat that was converted into an aid vessel, which had also left Mexico last Friday, arrived on Tuesday, a few days later than planned due to unfavorable weather, currents and battery issues. It had been escorted by a Mexican navy ship part of the way. Uncertainty over missing vessels grows But the two sailboats have yet to reach Cuba. “Mexican authorities have activated their search and rescue protocol for two sailboats en route to Havana as part of the Convoy, which have not yet arrived,” a spokesperson for the convoy told AFP. “The captains and crews are experienced sailors, and both vessels are equipped with appropriate safety systems and signalling equipment,” the spokesperson said. While the convoy appealed for information on sightings of the vessels, it said it remains “confident in the crews’ ability to reach Havana safely.” “Based on the speed of the vessels reported to the Cuban maritime authorities, the window for arrival for the boats in Havana should be between the night of Friday 27 March and midday of Saturday 28 March,” they explained. The Mexican Navy said on Thursday that there had been neither “communication nor confirmation of their arrival” in Cuba and that it had alerted naval commanders in the region and its search and rescue stations. The navy said earlier that the boats were due to arrive between Tuesday and Wednesday. Nationalities unknown The navy did not specify the identities or nationalities of the crew members on the missing boats, but said it was maintaining communication with rescue agencies in Poland, France, Cuba and the United States. The navy is also in contact “with the diplomatic missions of the crew members’ countries of origin” to cooperate and exchange information in real time, the statement said. It said it was using aircraft to search the route between Isla Mujeres and Havana. It appealed to seafarers and maritime authorities in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico to report any information or sightings of the missing vessels to the nearest naval authority. US President Donald Trump imposed a de facto oil blockade on Cuba in January after US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, whose government had been its principal source of Cuba’s fuel supplies. Trump has also threatened tariffs on countries that ship oil to Cuba. Cuba has suffered seven nationwide blackouts since 2024, including two last week alone.