The ‘Perseverancia’, with a capacity of 430 passengers, will be replaced by the ‘V2V Empress’, a Mexican catamaran that can carry only 240 people
14ymedio, Havana, October 26, 2027 / The Perseverancia, which connects the Isla de la Juventud with Batabanó, in Mayabeque province, is once again out of service after suffering a serious breakdown in one of its engines, the local station Radio Caribe reported this Monday. The ferry cannot even be towed, and the authorities are awaiting the arrival of foreign specialists to assess the damage and determine when it can be repaired.
The new breakdown comes less than a year after a repair that forced it to be withdrawn from service and that lasted from October to December 2025 in the Havana shipyards, with supplies contracted for more than 550,000 euros. “All very nice, but they don’t say when it’s going to sail, whichever boat it is,” one user complained in the comments on the station’s post.
The new breakdown comes less than a year after a repair that lasted from October to December 2025
As Carlos Lázaro Arroyo Salas, director of the Viamar Basic Business Unit, explained to the official Isla de la Juventud station, the ferry suffered a serious failure in its main port engine, which ended up contaminating the crankcase with fresh water.
Water getting into the oil reservoir that lubricates the engine parts can cause major damage. To assess its extent, foreign specialists are due to arrive in Nueva Gerona this Tuesday; their visit had initially been planned for the first quarter of 2027. The ferry was built in South Korea and is equipped with two American Cummins engines.
Radio Caribe explains that the specialists are “the only ones authorized to open up the engine” and determine the magnitude of the breakdown, so only after their inspection can a repair schedule be established. In the meantime, the vessel remains immobilized.
‘Radio Caribe’ explains that the foreign specialists are “the only ones authorized to open up the engine” and determine the magnitude of the breakdown
For now, trips depend on the V2V Empress, the Mexican catamaran that began operating in October 2025. It has capacity for about 240 passengers, compared with the Perseverancia’s 430, and maintains a limit of 20 kilograms of luggage per traveler. The authorities give priority to those who need to continue on to other provinces, catch international flights or attend oncology appointments.
Faced with the difficulties in repairing the Perseverancia, the authorities once again fell back on the US embargo as an explanation. According to Radio Caribe, there are “containers held up in Central America” with spare parts for the ferry that have not been able to reach Cuba, although the station does not specify where they are or how long they have been waiting to be shipped.
According to ‘Radio Caribe’, there are “containers held up in Central America” with spare parts for the ferry that have not been able to reach Cuba because of the “blockade”
User Rubi Sánchez Cuza commented sarcastically on that justification. “Everything was going perfectly until I saw the word ‘blockade’ and that the parts are held up in a container,” she wrote. Miguel Martel questioned how the visit of the foreign specialists can be arranged but not the shipment of the spare parts, and snapped: “Enough with the excuses already.”
Lino Nelson Bouza, a 74-year-old retiree, pointed out that the authorities cannot keep waiting for the United States to lift the embargo to solve the transportation problems and called for alternatives for the residents of the Isla de la Juventud.
A user identified as Isla Lg questioned the transport of baseball teams while there are residents who cannot get a ticket. Another comment criticizes the space given over to goods for private businesses when there are families who need to travel.
Several comments also point out that the Perseverancia is an essential route for bringing food to the special municipality. Now the shortages could worsen further and prices could rise.
The ‘Perseverancia’ is an essential route for bringing food to the special municipality, and now the shortages could worsen further and prices could rise
In September 2023, barely two months after entering service, the Perseverancia suspended its trips until further notice, amid the fuel shortage. The Viajero Company then asked residents to limit their travel to matters that could not be postponed and suspended the waiting lists.
Transportation Minister Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila acknowledged in August 2024 that the ferry was overworked, after having made hundreds of crossings carrying passengers and goods. The catamarans Río Júcaro and Río Las Casas were still under repair, and the plane linking Havana with Nueva Gerona was not operating either due to technical problems. The official then called for “taking extreme care” of the Perseverancia, the only means available.
The situation worsened in November of that year, when the port of Batabanó had to be dredged after Hurricane Rafael left accumulated sediment that prevented the vessel’s safe passage.
When it was withdrawn for a new repair in October 2025, the Perseverancia had racked up, in just over two years, 716 crossings, carrying almost 298,000 passengers and more than 82,000 tons of cargo. In the Havana shipyards it underwent more than fifty technical interventions, including the replacement of propellers, steering system components and shaft lines. The work ran ten days longer than planned due to unforeseen technical issues and was completed in December.
Translated by GH.
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