Avoiding direct bilateral contact, the United States will continue to work with Cuba through an international forum, the Department of the Interior said in a press statement.

“The United States is participating in multilateral discussions with the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica and Mexico on a broad range of issues, including drilling safety, ocean modeling, and oil spill preparedness and response,” said the press release, issued to report the completion of a U.S. inspection of a Cuba-bound drilling rig. 

On Dec. 7-9, U.S. and Cuban officials participated in a meeting of the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Information and Training Center (REMPEITC) in Nassau, Bahamas. The participants talked about regional cooperation in preventive regulatory frameworks, safety standards for drilling platforms, and best practices in oil spill containment.

The announcement came as personnel from Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the U.S. Coast Guard completed an inspection of the Scarabeo 9 oil rig on Jan. 9, as it was anchored off Trinidad and Tobago. The review followed an invitation from the rig’s operator, Repsol, before it will move to Cuban waters to begin exploratory drilling.

The platform is now ready for its last leg of the trip to Cuba, where it is expected to begin drilling by the end of next week, according to sources close to the project.

The U.S. inspectors reviewed vessel construction, drilling equipment, and safety systems, including lifesaving and firefighting equipment, emergency generators, dynamic positioning systems, machinery spaces, and the blowout preventer.

“U.S. personnel found the vessel to generally comply with existing international and U.S. standards by which Repsol has pledged to abide,” the BSEE statement said.

The Florida Coast Guard sectors Jacksonville, Miami, Key West and St. Petersburg are also updating area contingency plans, “to ensure readiness to respond to any potential oil spills in international waters that could potentially affect U.S. waters and coastline,” the BSEE statement said.

In addition, the Coast Guard’s Seventh District, headquartered in Miami, is overseeing work on an Offshore Drill Response Plan and Regional Contingency Plan that focuses on response strategies and tactics to combat a spill at sea. More than 80 federal, State of Florida, Florida coastal county and maritime industry representatives held a table-top exercise on Nov. 18, according to BSEE.

“The exercise allowed participants to discuss sensitive environmental areas, planning strategies, likely issues and response coordination principles that responders would face, as well as gather additional information to use in future planning,” the statement said.

Washington has refused to allow a general exemption for U.S. oil spill prevention and response companies from the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

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