image source, Reuters
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- Author, Dario Brooks
- Author title, BBC News World
Armed US soldiers boarded an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea this Wednesday and took control of it. This is the latest move in the Donald Trump administration’s election campaign against the government of Venezuela.
The images released by Washington show US troops attacking the ship from helicopters to carry out the seizure.
“We just seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a big one…the largest ever seized,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi later reported that the tanker was being targeted for “participation in an illegal oil transportation network that supports foreign terrorist organizations.”
The prosecutor assured that the seizure took place near the coast of Venezuela and that it was carried out “safely”.
After hearing the news, the Venezuelan government described the incident as “a brazen theft and an act of international piracy” that comes as part of a U.S. campaign that “responds to a deliberate plan to plunder our energy wealth.”
“The Bolivarian government reiterates that it will address all existing international bodies to denounce this serious international crime and that it will defend with absolute determination its sovereignty, its natural resources and its national dignity,” it said in a statement.
The ship’s seizure comes amid a campaign of armed attacks on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific by US troops, arguing they are involved in drug trafficking to the US. More than 80 people were killed in the attacks.
Washington also accuses the Venezuelan government of involvement in drug trafficking, which President Nicolás Maduro rejects, saying that the Americans are seeking a change of government in Caracas.
But what is known about the insured oil tanker?
Notes on “The Skipper”
Authorities did not provide any information Wednesday about which ship was boarded or what its destination will be once seized.
According to three sources cited by the American broadcaster CBS, a partner of the BBC in the USA, it is the tanker identified as “The Skipper”.
The British shipping risk company Vanguard Tech also reported that this ship was involved. He noted that it was reportedly part of a “secret fleet” and that “it was sanctioned by the United States for transporting Venezuelan oil exports.”
The Skipper was sailing under the flag of Guyana when her last position was updated two days ago, according to ship tracking site MarineTraffic reviewed by the BBC Verify team.
Vanguard believes its last location before the air operation was northeast of Caracas.
The company told BBC Verify that, based on the information it gathered, it believes the seizure occurred early Wednesday and that the ship may have “misrepresented its position for a long time.”
This means that it may have submitted an incorrect location and therefore its position reported on dedicated websites such as MarineTraffic may not be correct.
It is common for ships to be registered under the flag of a country other than that of their owner for tax reasons. But registration in third countries also serves to avoid international sanctions.
image source, Getty Images
Caracas’ answer
After the seizure, the Venezuelan government did not claim ownership of the ship but said it was “a brazen theft and an act of international piracy” that was “a response to a deliberate plan to plunder our energy wealth.”
He added that this was in addition to the “theft from Citgo,” the subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, which has been repeatedly sanctioned by Washington.
“It has always been about our natural wealth, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people,” Maduro’s government said in a statement.
Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world.
image source, US government
According to prosecutor Bondi, the seizure of the ship comes as part of an investigation into the “transportation of sanctioned oil.”
Bondi stated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Office of Homeland Security Investigations and the US Coast Guard, with assistance from the Department of Defense, were involved in the operation.
“They executed a seizure order on a tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.”
Washington has sanctioned two gangs of Venezuelan origin, the Tren de Aragua and the Cartel de los Soles, as “terrorist organizations.”
Following the seizure, oil prices rose slightly this Wednesday, exacerbating concerns about the short-term availability of energy.
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