Sanctioned Oil Tankers Leave Venezuela, with U.S. Not Taking Action

More than a dozen sanctioned oil tankers have departed Venezuela in what appears to be an effort to evade the U.S. blockade, Willa Pope Robbins reported for Mediaite.

Reports indicate that as many as 16 sanctioned tankers may have breached the blockade. (Photo: U.S. European Command)

Words

Both President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed over the weekend that the blockade on sanctioned oil tankers surrounding Venezuela would remain in effect following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

However, reports indicate that as many as 16 sanctioned tankers may have breached the blockade, leaving the Venezuelan coast for international waters with their satellite signals turned off, or operating in “dark mode.”

Most of the vessels are supertankers that typically carry crude oil to China, according to TankerTrackers.com and shipping documents from Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA cited by Reuters.

 Four vessels were tracked by The New York Times via satellite, sailing roughly 30 miles east of the Venezuelan coast.

The tankers reportedly used fake ship names and falsified location data to evade detection.

According to internal communications from PDVSA and two people in the Venezuelan oil industry, the vessels departed without authorization from the interim government.