US Seizes Sanctioned Oil Tanker After High-Seas Pursuit
REPORTER:
US forces seize a sanctioned oil tanker Wednesday after a weekslong pursuit across the Atlantic. Along the way, the ship changed its name and registered itself in Russia. The US kept up the chase. Washington says this is part of a so-called “ghost fleet” helping countries like Venezuela and Russia bypass its sanctions. Russia slammed the operation as a violation of maritime law. But the White House says it wasn't really a Russian ship and that the seizure was justified.
This was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that has transported sanctioned oil. The vessel was deemed stateless after flying a false flag, and it had a judicial seizure order, and that's why the crew will be subject to prosecution.
This is just one part of a US campaign to secure access to Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest known in the world, and bring a new government to the country.
Last week, a US operation captured Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro. He faces narco-terrorism and other charges in a New York court.
And the US has been seizing other ships, too—including one in the Caribbean, also on Wednesday—as it tries to quarantine Venezuelan oil.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington will sell the oil it gets from Venezuela and so-called “ghost fleet” ships it captures.
Marco Rubio (US SECRETARY OF STATE):
We are going to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil. We're going to sell it in the marketplace at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting. That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is dispersed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime.
Some observers say the strategy of taking tankers doesn't come without costs, though. The most recent seizure of the Russian-flagged ship could spark tension with Moscow. And then there are the unknowns of what comes next.
What will happen to the tanker? How long will the seizing authority be willing to keep this tanker at port, will pay for the maintenance? What will happen to the crew and the cargo? These are questions that have traditionally deterred coastal states from taking such actions. The US is really reshaping the playing field in this regard.
But what’s next in general for Venezuela is still an unknown in itself. Analysts say the seizure of the Russian-flagged ship is an example of how the Trump administration operates.
It does seem consistent with an overarching theme, both with respect to Venezuela and how this president approaches foreign policy in general, of taking the oil, quite literally in this case. And that seems to have been a rationale that ultimately convinced President Trump to authorize the military intervention into Venezuela.
And the US defense secretary says this isn’t the end when it comes to sanctioned oil.
That leverage will continue as Secretary Rubio outlined. So our military is prepared to continue this. As he said, the president, when he speaks, he means it. He's not messing around. We're an administration of action to advance our interests, and that is on full display.
Though calm has returned to Venezuela since the US strike, the fraught situation between the two countries, it seems, is far from over.
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