In a continued effort to control Venezuela’s oil exports, the United States has seized a sixth tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The vessel, named Veronica, was boarded during a pre-dawn operation “without incident” as it was defying President Donald Trump’s “quarantine of sanctioned vessels,” according to the US military.
The US Southern Command stated, “The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully.” This latest seizure comes just hours before a meeting between Trump and Venezuela’s opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, at the White House.
The Veronica, a crude oil tanker sailing under a Guyanese flag, departed empty from Venezuelan waters in early January, according to the monitoring service TankerTrackers.com. The International Maritime Organization’s database shows the vessel was previously registered in Russia under a different name.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praised the “heroic Coast Guard” for the “flawlessly executed operation, in accordance with international law.” This suggests that Washington’s crackdown on the so-called “dark fleet” of over 1,000 vessels transporting sanctioned oil will continue as the US works with Venezuela’s interim government to control the country’s oil sales.
The blockade has sharply curtailed Venezuelan oil exports, with only ships associated with Chevron and bound for the US operating as usual, according to Matt Smith, head of US analysis at Kpler. Loading has fallen roughly in half this month to about 400,000 barrels per day.
The latest tanker seizure comes a day after an American official said the US had completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil, valued at $500 million (£373 million). Trump has also asked oil executives at the White House to invest $100 billion in Venezuela’s energy infrastructure, though they said significant changes would be needed to make the country an attractive investment.
The White House has described Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, as “extremely cooperative,” and a Venezuelan government envoy is expected to travel to Washington on Thursday to meet US officials and take initial steps toward reopening the country’s embassy.