“Jamaica was saved by minutes” from the sanctions imposed by the United States. This was the strong statement made by researcher Jorge Piñón from the Institute of Energy at the University of Texas in an interview with CiberCuba, as he recalled that the GLP Emilia left Jamaican waters shortly before the enforcement of President Trump’s order to impose tariffs on countries that send oil to Cuba, given that his administration considers the Island a threat to the national security of the United States.
The GLP Emilia cargo ship never entered the port of Kingston, Jamaica, despite approaching the area at a sensitive time after President Donald Trump announced those tariffs, according to tracking done by the energy analyst who reviewed the ship’s navigation records.
Piñón highlighted a key detail: the order signed by President Donald Trump established that the sanctions would take effect at 12:01 AM on January 30, and the GLP Emilia entered Jamaican territorial waters at 08:35 UTC on January 29 and departed at 10:48 AM the following day, January 30; therefore, in Jorge Piñón’s opinion, it did not have enough time to load.
According to Piñón, the GLP Emilia approached Kingston with a draft of 8.4 meters and left with the same draft, indicating that it did not perform loading operations. “If the ship had loaded gas, the draft would have noticeably increased,” the expert pointed out.
The tracking of the tanker on the VesselFinder platform shows that the GLP Emilia had previously departed from the Port of Pastelillo, located in the municipality of Nuevitas, Camagüey province, on the northern coast of Cuba.
It is important to remember that in an interview granted to CiberCuba on January 18, prior to the sanctions announced by Trump, Jorge Piñón himself explained that the regime had between 4 and 8 weeks before entering paralysis, as at that time it was already not receiving oil from anywhere or from any of its allies.
