WASHINGTON.- USA is preparing for it intercept more ships that transport oil from Caracas Following the seizure of one this week, it appears to be a new modality in the pressure campaign against the President of Venezuela. Nicolas Madurosix sources familiar with the matter said Thursday.
Wednesday’s seizure of the skippers was the first disruption of a Venezuelan oil cargo or vessel. which has been under US sanctions since 2019and directly impacts the livelihoods of the Chavista regime’s economy. The action also takes place in parallel with the large-scale military operation launched by the President of the United States, Donald Trumpmaintains in the southern Caribbean.
The measure has alerted shipowners, operators and shipping agencies involved in the transport of Venezuelan crude oil to the possibility of new interventions. Many are reconsidering whether to set sail from Venezuelan waters in the coming days as planned, shipping sources said.
New direct interventions from the US are expected in the coming weeks against ships that transport Venezuelan oil and may also have transported crude oil from other countries subject to Washington sanctions, such as Iransaid the sources, who asked not to be named.
On Wednesday, American commandos were lowered from helicopters on ropes and They took control of the 332 meter long oil tankernot where it appeared to be sailing according to ship-tracking platforms, but about 360 nautical miles northwest, near the coast of Venezuela.
Several experts and US officials say the skipper is part of it a ghost fleet of oil smuggling ships for countries facing severe sanctions, such as: Venezuela, Russia and Iran.
Ships hide their locations by changing their automatic identification system – a mandatory safety feature designed to help avoid collisions – going completely dark or “spoofing” their location to give the impression that they are traveling even oceans away, under a false flag or with false registration information from another ship.
This type of fleet was expanded following Washington’s sanctions against Moscow following the war in Ukraine that began in 2022. Experts say that many of the ships They are barely seaworthy, operate without insurance and are registered to shell companies They help hide your belongings.
Ships often load their cargo onto other ships at sea, which further obscures its originssaid the experts.
Wednesday’s seizure could mark a turning point in North America’s pressure strategy against the Chavista regime, experts said. This suggests a possible oil blockade that could deter smuggling even from some of the shipping industry’s darkest players.
“The cost of doing business with Venezuela just went up significantly.”said Claire Jungman, director of maritime risk and intelligence at Vortexa, an oil analysis company. “These are very risk-tolerant operators, But they don’t want to lose a helmet either. “Physical seizure is a completely different category of risk than forgery and bank fines.”
The skipper left Venezuelan waters earlier this month with approx 2 million barrels of heavy crude oilAbout half of which belongs to a state-owned Cuban oil importer, according to documents from the Venezuelan state-owned company PDVSA.
The new US approach focuses on the activities of the ghost fleet that transports sanctioned oil there China, the largest buyer of crude oil from Venezuela and Iran.
This was reported by Windward, a company that uses satellite images that North American authorities rely on to map the movements of ghost fleets The skipper is one of 30 sanctioned oil tankers operating near Venezuelamany of them are potential targets of American interception because they are incorrectly marked, making them stateless under international maritime law.
The timing of new attacks would depend in part on this how quickly measures could be taken so that the ports could accept the ships seized to dump oil, one of the sources said.
Venezuela has rare earth reserves, vast farmland and paradisiacal Caribbean beaches that could attract foreign tourists. But oil is still the engine of the economyas has been the case for much of the last century.
The country is suffering from what economists call “Dutch Disease”in which a government develops an unhealthy dependence on the export of natural resources to the detriment of other sectors. The concept applied to Holland when natural gas deposits were discovered in the North Sea implies an appreciation of the currency due to the export of natural resources, making other exports less competitive.
Oil currently represents around 88% of $24 billion in sales for exports from Venezuela. Much of the remainder comes from products related to oil production, such as petrochemicals.
“Continued confiscation policies would lead to a significant decline in Venezuela’s import capacity.” which would plunge the country into a new recession” said Francisco RodríguezVenezuelan economist at the University of Denver.
To make matters worse, Venezuela’s oil production has declined due to Mismanagement, corruption and US sanctions. Oil prices have also fallen from the very high levels that fueled the former president’s rise to power. Hugo Chavez.
As recently as 2012, Venezuela earned around $120 billion a year from oil exports. compared to current levels of approximately $21 billionRodriguez said.
During this time, the South American country’s economy suffered “The biggest economic collapse in almost half a century in a country not in conflict”said the International Monetary Fund.
Venezuela still has more oil than Saudi ArabiaRussia or the United States, about 17% of known world reservesaccording to Oil & Gas Journal, an industry publication.
But disputes with international oil companies, as well as the challenges posed by extracting oil from the countrywhich is similar to tar, have tested Venezuela’s ability to generate higher returns from its reserves by increasing production.
After the seizure, Maduro criticized the North American government and described the measure as a “International Piracy Law”.
“As I speak to you, the crew members of this ship that was carrying 1,900 barrels to international markets are being kidnapped, missing, no one knows where they are,” Maduro said during a televised government event on Thursday. “They kidnapped the crew, stole the ship and ushered in a new era – the era of criminal maritime piracy in the Caribbean.
On Thursday, the leader of the US-backed Venezuelan opposition said Maria Corina Machado, applauded the Trump administration’s decision seize the tanker.
“The regime does not use the resources and cash flows that come from illegal activities, including the black market for oil, to feed hungry children, teachers who earn a dollar a day, or hospitals,” Machado told reporters in the Norwegian capital, where he received it Nobel Peace Prize. “They use these resources to oppress and persecute our people.”.
AP and Reuters agencies and newspapers The New York Times
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