U.S. Navy pursues several sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers across Atlantic

A U.S. Navy vessel is pursuing several sanctioned oil tankers that left Venezuelan waters and appear to be crossing the Atlantic, according to satellite imagery and a U.S. military official. The ships, most reportedly laden with oil, are hundreds of miles from land and appear to be heading east toward Africa and Europe.

The United States began a partial naval blockade of Venezuelan oil shipments in mid-December and has since boarded or seized four vessels trying to trade oil in defiance of the effort, the report said. On Wednesday, U.S. forces intercepted and took control of two of those ships, including one seized between Iceland and Britain after a weekslong chase across the North Atlantic.

The current crossings were part of a mass departure of 16 sanctioned tankers that left Venezuelan waters en masse last weekend; of those 16, only the M Sophia was boarded by U.S. forces, in the Caribbean on Wednesday, the Times said. The movements were detected by a computer program written by Ollie Ballinger of University College London, and The Times analyzed imagery to verify the findings.

Some tankers have changed names and flags in apparent attempts to evade enforcement: the Veronica reportedly became Galileo and reflagged to Russia, and three other tankers carrying Venezuelan oil registered in Russia this week. The ship seized in the North Atlantic had recently changed names and re-registered in Russia and was previously sanctioned by the United States, the article said.

Key Topics

World, Us Navy, Venezuela, Oil Tankers, Russia, Naval Blockade