Turkish floating power plant ships are currently docked in Havana, ready to provide crisis-wracked Cuba with desperately needed energy. Arriving on April 8, the Belgin Sultan, owned by the Karpowership conglomerate, joined the Erol Bay, which was already docked in Cuba. According to the English-language newsroom Turkiye Today these vessels, which use LNG, natural gas, and liquid fuel, operate on a “plug and play” system by which they can quickly plug into the local electric grid. The Belgin Sultan has a capacity of between 15-75 MW and together with the Erol Bay, they generate 124 MW. The two ships support electricity generation across several regions, the Turkish newsroom, constituting about 25% of the island’s energy supply.
The floating Turkish power plants are not new to Cuba. They have been active on the island since 2019, but had had to cut back operations over the last few years, due to Cuba’s financial problems that affected its ability to pay and to fuel supply constraints. The Belgin Sultan had previously been stationed in Cuba but was forced to pull out in May of 2025, because of the government payment problems. Russia’s delivery of 100,000 tons of crude oil on March 30 has already helped to restore some fuel supply and allowed the two Turkish ships to be brought back online. They should be fully operational in the second half of April. The U.S. Trump administration has not interfered with Turkiye’s operation.
