MIAMI — Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd) forecast a loss for the current quarter and revenue below estimates as occupancy rates remained stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels, sending its shares down 12 percent this week. Its second-quarter occupancy of 65 percent compared with more than 107 percent in 2019, a level the company does not expect to […]
Category: Caribbean News
2nd Firefighter Dies as Cuba Controls Big Oil Facility Fire
HAVANA — Officials said that a second firefighter has died in Cuba, where crews have controlled a massive blaze that began last week at a key oil storage facility amid a deepening energy crisis. The 24-year-old firefighter identified as Elier Correa had been hospitalized in extremely critical condition, according to government news site Cubadebate. Another […]
Best Hacks For The Travel Apocalypse
SAN JUAN — Planning to squeeze some travel out of the rest of summer? Good luck — you will need it. Flight cancellations have already soared past last year’s total. Delays affected 890,000 flights in the first half of the year. Prices have shot up as pandemic-weary travelers are desperate to go anywhere. Luggage ‘graveyards’ […]
Record Amount of Algae Threatens Economy, Wildlife on Caribbean Coasts
SAN JUAN — Near-record amounts of algae, or water plants, are covering Caribbean coasts from Puerto Rico to Barbados. The plants are killing fish and other wildlife, producing bad smells and gases, and hurting tourism. The University of South Florida’s Optical Oceanography Lab said nearly 22 million metric tons of brown algae called sargassum appeared in the […]
Coast Guard Offloads $22 Million in Seized Cocaine in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Tezanos and Caribbean Corridor Strike Force agents offloaded 2,425 pounds (1,100 kilograms) of seized cocaine Monday, following three separate at-sea interdictions near Puerto Rico. Fourteen men, Dominican Republic nationals, apprehended in these cases are facing federal prosecution in Puerto Rico. The seized contraband has an estimated wholesale value of approximately $22 million dollars. These interdictions are the result of multi-agency […]
Cuba Brings Oil Depot Fire Under Control, Worst In Island’s History
HAVANA — Firefighters on Tuesday finally overcame what officials described as the worst fire in Cuba’s history that over five days destroyed 40 percent of the Caribbean island’s main fuel storage facility and caused massive blackouts. Reuters witnesses reported the raging flames that ravaged a four-tank segment of the Matanzas super tanker port had died […]
Dry Air, Saharan Dust Shutting Down Tropical Wave’s Chances of Blossoming
MIAMI — The tropical wave in the eastern Atlantic is beginning to show its limitations, causing the National Hurricane Center to lower its odds of development. A wave that emerged off the coast of Africa early Monday is continuing to produce a large area of disorganized cloudiness and thunderstorms a few hundred miles southwest of […]
Coast Guard Cutter Crashes Into Fishing Boat, Killing 1 Fisherman Off Dorado
SAN JUAN — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Winslow Griesser and the 23-foot commercial fishing vessel Desakata were involved in a collision Monday afternoon, approximately four nautical miles north of Dorado, Puerto Rico. Following the collision, the crew of the cutter Winslow Griesser recovered the two fishermen aboard Desakata, identified as Carlos Rosario, who was […]
Oil Facility Fire Jeopardizes Cuba’s Frail Electric System
HAVANA — A deadly fire that began at a large oil storage facility in western Cuba spread today, threatening to plunge the island into a deeper energy crisis as it forced officials to shut down a key thermoelectric plant. Flames around dawn enveloped a third tank that firefighters had tried to cool as they struggle […]
‘Fierce’ Tropical Depression Expected This Week In Atlantic
MIAMI — People in the Eastern Caribbean don’t expect severe tropical weather in August, but the Atlantic Basin could have a new tropical depression later this week. Satellite observations show a fierce tropical disturbance has emerged off the western coast of Africa and is moving west-northwestward at 15 to 20 mph across the tropical Atlantic. […]