About 18 oil tankers sanctioned by Washington, fully loaded with oil, are in Venezuelan waters and are being monitored by the United States, the Axios website reported on Wednesday (12/17/2025).. Eight of those vessels are considered large cargo ships, similar to the skipper seized by Washington last week.
According to Axios, which quotes the co-founder of maritime traffic monitoring firm Tanker Trackers, Samir Madani, of the 712 vessels on the list of vessels sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, nearly forty are in Venezuelan waters, including the 18 oil tankers. Axios highlighted that Donald Trump’s administration plans to seize these oil tankers if they enter international waters.
Washington is increasing the pressure
The U.S. Republican leader on Tuesday ordered “the complete and total blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela,” marking another step in the escalation of pressure from Washington on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. It also renewed the warning for air traffic over the country.
In his message on his social network Truth Social, Trump warned that Venezuela was “surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America” and stressed that the turmoil will be greater than ever until they return to the United States “all the oil, land and other assets that they previously stole.”
lgc (efe, lusa)
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