U.S. Seeks Court Warrants To Seize More Tankers Linked To Venezuelan Oil Trade

The United States has filed court requests to seize dozens of additional oil tankers connected to Venezuela’s oil trade, according to four sources familiar with the matter.

The sources said the U.S. government has launched multiple civil forfeiture cases in district courts, mainly in Washington, D.C.

These legal actions would allow U.S. authorities to seize and confiscate both oil cargoes and the vessels involved in transporting Venezuelan crude.

In the past few weeks, the U.S. military and Coast Guard have intercepted five vessels in international waters that were either carrying Venezuelan oil or had done so in the past, according to the sources.

These actions are part of U.S. campaign targeting Venezuela’s leadership, which ended with U.S. forces capturing President Nicolas Maduro on 3 January.

Since then, the administration of President Donald Trump has said it plans to maintain long-term control over Venezuela’s oil resources while working to rebuild the country’s struggling oil industry.

In December, the United States imposed a blockade aimed at stopping sanctioned tankers from exporting Venezuelan crude.

The vessels targeted so far were either already under U.S. sanctions or part of the “shadow fleet”. These are unregulated tankers that hide their identities and trading histories to move oil from sanctioned producers such as Venezuela, Iran and Russia.

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Despite the recent seizures, many tankers are still at sea carrying Venezuelan crude, mainly to China, or have previously done so. According to the sources, the U.S. has sanctioned many of these vessels for helping to move oil linked to Venezuela or Iran.

The sources said there has been a pause in U.S. vessel seizures since Friday. However, they added that enforcement action could resume at any time against ships or cargoes that are not authorised by Washington.

A Pentagon spokesperson said on social media on Friday that the Department of Defense, working with other U.S. agencies, would track down and intercept all so-called dark fleet vessels carrying Venezuelan oil at a time and place of its choosing.

Shipping industry sources stated that the U.S. is now seizing both vessels and their cargoes.

This marks an escalation from earlier enforcement actions against Iranian oil shipments between 2020 and 2023, when authorities usually confiscated only the oil cargo.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media on 7 January that several other vessels were being monitored for possible enforcement action.

Her comments followed the seizure of the tanker Bella-1, which was not carrying any cargo at the time. The seizure was the first known case in recent years of the U.S. military taking control of a Russian-flagged vessel.

Russia, like Venezuela, depends heavily on shadow fleet tankers to transport oil under sanctions.

In response, Russia’s Foreign Ministry criticised the seizure, describing it as an illegal use of force by the U.S. military and saying the sanctions were applied without a legal basis.

Reference: Reuters

Source: Maritime Shipping News