Washington (United States) (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic after pursuing it from off the coast of Venezuela, in an operation condemned by Moscow. Washington says the tanker is part of a so-called shadow fleet that carries oil for countries such as Venezuela, Russia, and Iran in violation of US sanctions, and seized it despite the ship being escorted by the Russian navy. The vessel had thwarted an earlier attempt to board it last month near Venezuela, where a US raid on Saturday toppled the country’s authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro.
“The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court,” US European Command, which oversees American forces in the region, said in a statement on X. After the operation, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth posted that the US blockade on Venezuelan oil was in full effect “anywhere in the world.” Russia’s Transport Ministry slammed the seizure, saying “freedom of navigation applies in waters on the high seas, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered under the jurisdiction of other states.”
The US military also announced a second sanctioned tanker ship had been seized in the Caribbean Sea. Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem posted on X that both vessels “were either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it,” and included a video of US forces roping down from a helicopter onto an unidentified ship and proceeding toward the bridge with weapons ready.
Last weekend, US special forces snatched Maduro and his wife from Caracas and flew them to New York to face trial on drug charges. Since then, President Donald Trump has said that the United States will “run” Venezuela and US companies will control its critical oil industry. In Caracas, after several days of shuttered shops and intermittent public transport, the capital’s streets were again busy Wednesday with pedestrians, street vendors, cars, and motorbikes.
The North Atlantic operation came despite Russia reportedly sending a submarine and other naval assets to escort the empty tanker and saying the vessel was sailing under the Russian flag. The vessel, formerly known as the Bella-1, in recent weeks switched its registration to Russia, changed its name to the Marinera, and the tanker’s crew reportedly painted a Russian flag on the tanker. It had been en route to Venezuela before it evaded the US blockade and has been under US sanctions since 2024 over alleged ties to Iran and Hezbollah.
Trump said Tuesday that Venezuela claimed 30-50 million barrels of “high-quality, sanctioned” Venezuelan crude will be shipped to US ports, with the revenue — perhaps more than $2 billion at current market prices — placed under his personal control. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright added Wednesday that Washington will control sales of Venezuelan oil “indefinitely.” It was not clear whether Venezuela’s new ruler — interim president Delcy Rodriguez — had agreed to hand over the oil, how the plan would work, or what its legal basis would be. Rodriguez — a long-time member of Maduro’s inner circle as vice president and energy minister — has vowed cooperation with the United States amid fears that Trump could pursue wider regime change.
© 2024 AFP
