An item dated Paris 17 June referred to tidings received from Gibraltar reporting that a week earlier the two Soviet steamships Cuban and Transbalt were stopped off Gibraltar by a Spanish cruiser of the Nationalists and forced to go to Ceuta for further investigation. They were suspected of transporting war stores for the regular government troops. Both ships were still not released and nothing was made public about the results of the investigation. Another Dutch newspaper De Banier dated 25 June published an item dated St. Jean de Luz 24 June reporting that it was the Spanish cruiser Almirante Cervera which stopped the Kuban and bringing her to Malaga. Her cargo destined for the regular government in Valencia consisted of 20 planes, 44 tanks, 1.100 machineguns, 9.000 rifles, 2.000.000 cartridges and 4.500 (?) tons of other war stores.
