The vessel set sail from Cancún, Mexico, loaded with medical supplies, powdered milk, school materials and other basic necessities.
EFE, via 14ymedio, Havana, August 31, 2026 / As curious onlookers watched, asking who was aboard the ship, and with nightfall on the horizon, Open Arms’ sailboat Astral entered Havana Bay this Sunday and docked at the Cruise Terminal carrying seven tons of humanitarian aid, just over a month after its first trip to Cuba.
The Spanish NGO’s second mission to the Island had set sail on Saturday from Cancún, Mexico, carrying medical supplies, powdered milk and nearly three tons of hemodialysis equipment and supplies, as well as school materials and other basic necessities.
These are donations from Mexican civil society intended for the Dr. Abelardo Buch López Institute of Nephrology and the Juan Manuel Márquez University Pediatric Hospital.
These are donations from Mexican civil society intended for the Dr. Abelardo Buch López Institute of Nephrology and the Juan Manuel Márquez University Pediatric Hospital.
The Astral arrived in Havana for the first time last July 19, on the mission Rumbo a Cuba [Bound for Cuba]. The sailboat had departed Barcelona on May 14 and, after stopping at various Spanish ports, became the first boat to cross the Atlantic to the Island carrying seven tons of aid, traveling 6,200 miles (nearly 10,000 kilometers).
The donation, valued at 160,000 euros and supported by more than 4,000 donors, included photovoltaic equipment, medical supplies and an ultrasound machine for the Juan Manuel Márquez Pediatric Hospital, which is once again receiving aid on this occasion.
“When we arrived in July, we saw firsthand what was happening in the hospitals and, above all, what was missing. We could have ended the mission and gone home, but when you know exactly what they need and that you can do something, you can no longer say you didn’t know. That is why we have returned,” explained Oscar Camps, founder of Open Arms.
After docking late Sunday afternoon, the ship will be unloaded on Monday, followed by a welcome ceremony with local authorities. On Wednesday, the aid will be delivered to the Dr. Abelardo Buch López Institute of Nephrology and the Juan Manuel Márquez University Pediatric Hospital.
“They deserve credit for having left Cancún in that sailboat. Those waters make you terribly seasick”
With this visit, the crew will also be able to assess the results of the previous donation before returning to Barcelona.
The NGO Open Arms was founded in 2015 during the height of the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean Sea and says it has since saved more than 70,000 lives.
With its trip to Cuba, Open Arms’ goal has been to deliver aid and also show the humanitarian impact of the United States embargo on the Island.
As the ship docked at the Havana Port Cruise Terminal, Lázaro Jubel could not stop looking at the Astral from afar. “They deserve credit for having left Cancún in that sailboat. Those waters make you terribly seasick,” he told EFE, familiar with the vessel’s 30-meter length. Before turning away, he concluded: “But we need the aid.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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