14ymedio, Madrid, 10 April 2024 — The Balsa 88 and the Federal Nagara, two freighters that have spent weeks circling the Island, finally arrived in Havana on Tuesday. Both were part of the group of ships that could not enter the port due to non-payments, according to the first Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, who last Thursday blamed the financial consequences of the US embargo for the delay.
Under the Panamanian flag, according to the ship-monitoring websites, the Balsa 88 carries a load of diammonium phosphate, a type of highly concentrated fertilizer suitable for all types of crops, from Norfolk (Virginia, USA). The ship left that port on March 14 and arrived in Cuba on March 18. From that day until it docked on Sunday, April 7, it made countless turns around the Island, as can be seen in the zigzag line of its route in the last few weeks.
This is one of three ships coming from the United States that have recently arrived on the Island. It is joined by the Deneb, which, under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, was en route from Wilmington (North Carolina) to Mariel in mid-March, and the Linda D, a very special case.
This ship, also under a Panamanian flag, constantly enters and leaves Miami for Mariel and is, according to experts, the cargo ship with a landing ramp that brings cars imported from the United States. As of April 1, the Linda D had already made 21 trips on this route, and yesterday, Tuesday, April 9, it again left loaded for Cuba, where its arrival is expected on Thursday the 11th.
According to the most recent data from the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, provided on Monday, April 8, the United States exported $4,983,708 in new vehicles to Cuba in February, in addition to $109,