US prepares seizure of dozens of tankers linked to Venezuela
Oil tanker (illustrative photo: Getty Images)
The US government has filed civil forfeiture lawsuits in district courts. This could allow the seizure of several dozen additional oil tankers linked to Venezuela in international waters, Reuters reports.
As the news agency writes, the exact number of warrants for the arrest of vessels that the United States has filed for and already obtained remains unknown, as the relevant documents and court rulings are not public.
Reuters sources note that overall, the US administration has filed dozens of such lawsuits with district courts, mainly in Washington.
Shadow fleet vessels are ships that conceal their true origins to transport oil from key producing countries currently under sanctions. These include Iran, Russia, and Venezuela.
Following a special operation by US forces in Caracas, during which Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was detained, the US military and Coast Guard have already seized five tankers in international waters that were carrying Venezuelan oil or were linked to it.
Detention of tankers by the United States
On Friday, January 9, the United States detained the oil tanker Olina in the Caribbean Sea near Trinidad. This was already the fifth interception of such vessels in recent weeks.
The US Coast Guard boarded the tanker and simultaneously tracked other vessels attempting to bypass the US blockade of tankers heading to or from Venezuela, despite sanctions.
Earlier, on January 7, US forces detained two more tankers of the so-called shadow fleet — Bella 1 and Sofia.
Both vessels are under US Treasury Department sanctions for transporting sanctioned Iranian, Venezuelan, and Russian oil.
According to media reports, the tanker Bella 1, which was renamed Marinera, has belonged since late December to the Russian company Burevestmarin, registered in the Ryazan region.
