A tanker allegedly carrying Russian fuel en route to Cuba is using deceptive “dark fleet” tactics, including signal manipulation and offshore ship-to-ship transfers, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward.

According to MarineTraffic, the vessel, called Sea Horse, was located Tuesday on the U.S. East Coast with its signal, noted as “roaming.” 

The move comes as the U.S. pressured Cuba’s fuel supplies, disrupting deliveries and targeting third-party countries that provide oil, following new sanctions and the detention of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

On Jan. 29, President Donald Trump also signed an executive order declaring a national emergency with respect to Cuba and authorizing tariffs on imports from countries that sell or supply oil there.

Windward reported that the Russian oil tanker initially broadcast Havana as its destination on Feb. 7, and was “Hong Kong-flagged” before quietly changing tack. Windward said the tanker had an expected arrival in Cuba in early March.

The vessel altered its Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal to show it would arrive in the “Caribbean Sea” within two weeks — a vague designation the firm said is often used to hide a ship’s final port of call.

The destination was later switched again to Gibraltar for orders, even after the tanker had already transited the strait, a move Windward described as inconsistent with standard commercial routing.

Windward’s analysis also suggests the vessel loaded its cargo through a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer conducted offshore near Cyprus.

RUSSIAN OIL TANKER ‘THE GRINCH’ INTERCEPTED AS US, ALLIES ESCALATE SANCTIONS CRACKDOWN

During the loading process, the tanker’s AIS signal was temporarily switched off — “a tactic of deceptive maritime operations designed to avoid regulatory scrutiny,” Windward said.

Windward data also shows the vessel’s draft increased on Feb. 8, several days after leaving an area used for floating storage and transshipment of Russian middle distillate cargoes originating from Black Sea ports.

The tanker had loitered in that zone for roughly two weeks before departing, Windward said.

“Ship-to-ship transfers outside territorial waters, where port-state oversight is limited, have become a common practice in oil trade to circumvent sanctions and regulatory scrutiny,” Windward noted.

‘IRREGULAR’ ARMED GUARDS ABOARD RUSSIAN SHADOW TANKERS ALARM NORDIC-BALTIC GOVERNMENTS

The company added that AIS manipulation, offshore transfers and ambiguous destination reporting are now standard features of shadow-fleet activity sustaining Russian oil exports despite any U.S. sanctions.

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Cuba is also facing an energy crisis that has worsened in recent weeks after oil shipments from Venezuela, its primary supplier, were halted following U.S. action in early January.

Mexico, another major supplier, also suspended oil shipments, according to The Associated Press.

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24/02/2026 – 18:49 GMT+1

EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič urged lawmakers on Tuesday to move ahead with the EU-US trade pact even as Washington piles on new tariffs and legal uncertainty puts the agreement’s terms in doubt.

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The deal was abruptly frozen Monday after a ruling by the United States Supreme Court declared most of the tariffs imposed worldwide by the White House in 2025 illegal. Shortly after the ruling, US President Donald Trump announced new 10% duties on imports from US allies, including the EU.

“It is imperative we keep the process moving forward in implementing our commitments,” Šefčovič told MEPs. “A vote in plenary in March must remain our target, under the condition, of course, that we get more clarity from the US.”

Šefčovič also said his US counterparts had called him as of Saturday to “reassure” him that they will “stick” to the agreement if the EU “respect the deal.”

Commission pushes for vote

But the deal, clinched in July 2025 by Trump and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after weeks of trade brinkmanship, now hangs in the balance, and requires the approval of the European Parliament to enter into force.

Euronews has learned that during a meeting with European Parliament negotiators on Monday, Šefčovič pressed MEPs to proceed with a vote, arguing the EU should not hand Washington an argument that Brussels is failing to deliver.

Widely seen in Brussels as lopsided, the deal maintains 15% US tariffs on EU goods while the bloc scraps its own tariffs on US goods altogether and commits to invest hundreds of billions of euros in the US.

Since the Supreme Court ruling and the fallout in Washington, the European Commission has urged the White House to honour the deal and sought clarity on the next steps, as well as on the duration and scope of the new tariffs Trump announced after the ruling.

“Whatever was covered by the deal from July last year should still be covered,” Commission Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho said.

Robert Carradine, the youngest of his prolific Hollywood family and whose biggest hit was the 1984 comedy “Revenge of the Nerds,” has died at 71.

In a Tuesday statement to news outlets, his family said he lived with bipolar disorder for two decades and died by suicide.

“We want people to know it, and there is no shame in it,” his brother Keith Carradine told Deadline. “It is an illness that got the best of him, and I want to celebrate him for his struggle with it, and celebrate his beautiful soul. He was profoundly gifted, and we will miss him every day.”

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

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Known for both his film and television work, Robert Carradine worked steadily in the industry for over 40 years. Though he collaborated with some of the most respected directors of the day, he never gained the worldwide recognition of his more famous siblings Keith Carradine (also the father of Martha Plimpton) and half-brother David Carradine, who died in 2009.

Robert Carradine, a Los Angeles native and son to character actor John Carradine, was introduced to audiences with roles on the television series “Bonanza” in 1971 and in the John Wayne Western “The Cowboys” in 1972.

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Despite his family background, acting wasn’t his first calling, though.

“I always had a passion to be a race car driver, and that’s what I thought I was going to do, and at some penultimate moment … I think I was sitting with my brother David when ‘The Cowboys’ was being cast, and they were interested in David as the bad guy, and he didn’t want to be the guy that shot John Wayne in the back,” Carradine recalled in a 2013 interview with Popdose. “But he said, ‘You know, it is called The Cowboys, and they’re meeting all these young guys. Why don’t you go in?’”

In addition to starring in a short-lived television spinoff of “The Cowboys,” and appearing alongside David Carradine in his popular ABC series “Kung Fu,” he would go on to nab roles in Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets,” Hal Ashby’s Vietnam drama “Coming Home,” and Samuel Fuller’s World War II film “The Big Red One.”

The heights of his brother David’s success eluded Robert Carradine, but the two could often be seen in the same projects, including in Walter Hill’s “The Long Riders” and Paul Bartel’s “Cannonball.”

Robert Carradine’s biggest hit would come in 1984 with the off-color comedy “Revenge of the Nerds,” in which he played head nerd Lewis Skolnick, with his abrupt, infectious and guttural laugh. He reprised the role for the big-screen sequel and two made-for-television follow-ups, and continued to pay homage to the beloved character with a guest role on the series “Robot Chicken” and as a co-host (with “Revenge of the Nerds” co-star Curtis Armstrong) of the pop culture competition show “King of the Nerds,” which aired for three seasons.

In the 2000s, Carradine gained small-screen success in The Disney Channel’s “Lizzie McGuire” as the eponymous character’s father.

“It’s really hard to face this reality about an old friend,” Hilary Duff, who played Lizzie McGuire, wrote on Instagram. “There was so much warmth in the McGuire family and I always felt so cared for by my on-screen parents. I’ll be forever grateful for that. I’m deeply sad to learn Bobby was suffering.”

Work remained consistent even if the projects diminished in prestige and quality. Then Quentin Tarantino, ever the champion of fading character actors, cast Carradine in “Django Unchained” as one of the trackers in the 2012 film after seeing a “very furry” photograph, as Carradine told Popdose.

In 2015, Carradine was cited for a Colorado crash that injured him and his wife, Edith. They later divorced, after more than 25 years of marriage.

Carradine’s survivors include his three children, actor Ever Carradine, Marika Reed Carradine and Ian Alexander Carradine.

“Whenever anyone asks me how I turned out so normal, I always tell them it’s because of my dad. I knew my dad loved me, I knew it deep in my bones, and I always knew he had my back,” Ever Carradine wrote on Instagram. “I think it’s partly because we basically grew up together. Twenty years age difference really isn’t that much, and while I never ever thought of him as a sibling, I did always think of him as my partner. We were in it together.”