HAVANA: Two sailboats carrying aid to Cuba that went missing have been found, convoy organisers said on Saturday (Mar 28), but Mexico’s navy leading the search had yet to comment as circumstances around the vessels’ disappearance remained unclear.
The Mexican Navy reported on Thursday that it began a search and rescue mission after losing communication with the vessels, which left from Isla Mujeres in southeast Mexico a week ago with nine people aboard.
The sailboats are part of an international convoy that has brought 50 tonnes of medical supplies, food, solar panels and other goods to support Cuba as a US fuel blockade has deepened the communist-ruled island’s energy and economic crisis.
“We are relieved to confirm that the two sailboats have been located by the Mexican Navy, the crews are safe, and the vessels are continuing their journey to Havana,” a spokesperson for the Nuestra America Convoy said on Saturday.
“The Convoy remains on track to complete its mission – delivering urgently needed humanitarian aid to the Cuban people,” the spokesperson said, thanking Mexican and Cuban authorities for their “support, coordination, and professionalism”.
The convoy spokesperson did not say why the two boats lost contact.
The Mexican Navy has yet to confirm that it has located the vessels.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that the search for the sailboats – the Friend Ship and Tiger Moth – was ongoing.
A Mexican Navy ship had “established contact with them and after a few hours it no longer had contact with them. At that point, a search operation was initiated”, Sheinbaum said at a news conference in Mexico City.
Around the same time she spoke, the US Coast Guard told AFP that it had “received a report at 10.36am (2.36pm GMT) today that the two vessels safely transited to Cuba”.
The Coast Guard, however, later released an “updated” statement saying the Mexican Navy was leading the “ongoing search” along with Cuban authorities.
It added that it was not involved in the search.
Cuban and Mexican authorities have so far not confirmed any sightings of the vessels.
The Mexican Navy had indicated that the boats were due to arrive between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Havana was “doing everything possible” to help the search.