The U.S. has boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean in the fifth such interdiction of ships in recent weeks as part of Washington’s efforts to control Venezuelan oil exports, two U.S. officials said Friday.
U.S. forces are targeting the Olina tanker near Trinidad, which was falsely flying the flag of Timor Leste, according to public shipping database Equasis.
It had previously sailed from Venezuela and returned to the region, an industry source told Reuters.
“The vessel’s AIS (location) tracker was last active 52 days ago in the Venezuelan EEZ, northeast of Curacao,” British maritime risk management company Vanguard said separately.
“The seizure follows a prolonged pursuit of tankers linked to sanctioned Venezuelan oil shipments in the region.”
The Olina left Venezuela last week fully loaded with oil as part of a flotilla shortly after the U.S. seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3, and the vessel was returning fully loaded to Venezuela following the U.S. blockade of Venezuelan oil exports, the industry source said.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on the tanker in January last year, when it was named the Minerva M, for what Washington said was it being part of the so-called shadow fleet of ships that sail with little regulation or known insurance.
The ship was sanctioned for its role in transporting Russian oil, The Wall Street Journal reported, with Friday’s seizure by the U.S. risking further inflaming tensions with Russia after the U.S. seized a ship being escorted by the Russian Navy earlier this week.
In that seizure, the military and Coast Guard intercepted the Marinera tanker in waters northwest of Scotland after a two-week chase.
The vessel had evaded a U.S. blockade of sanctioned oil tankers near Venezuela, a measure the administration had implemented before an elite unit seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the early hours of Saturday.
After evading capture, it renamed itself from the Bella 1 and painted a Russian flag on its side in what appeared to be a bid for protection from Moscow.
On Wednesday, Trump administration officials announced that the U.S. plans to indefinitely control Venezuelan oil sales as a means to stabilize the country’s economy and rebuild its neglected oil sector.
Officials say the U.S. will maintain the country’s massive reserves to ensure proceeds from sales are used “for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people.”
Trump is set to meet with oil executives Friday to try and persuade America’s largest energy companies to restore Venezuela’s oil infrastructure.
