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Some oil tankers have changed course Venezuela after the president donald trump threatened “blockadeof sanctioned vessels entering or leaving the South American country.
Trump said in broad strokes on social media on Tuesday that he was ordering a “complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers” in and out of Venezuela, a move that threatens to cut off revenues from the world’s largest oil reserves that are vital to Maduro’s grip on power.
It’s not clear exactly what Trump meant by his threats.
US sanctions adopted during his first administration made it illegal for Americans to buy crude oil from Venezuela without a license treasury department,
Additionally, hundreds of the ships themselves have been cleared – often part of a vast shadow fleet of older ships that has grown to transport oil in recent years. iran, RussiaVenezuela and other US rivals under sanctions.
At least 30 vessels under sanctions are navigating near Venezuela, according to Windward, a maritime intelligence firm that helps US authorities target shadow fleets.
Some have begun to change course, perhaps fearing that they may meet the same fate as the Skipper vessel Seized by US forces near Venezuela last week.
“It’s quite clear that this has disrupted energy flows to and from Venezuela,” said Michelle Wiese Bockman, a senior analyst at Windward.
“Every hour that we’re tracking these ships, we’re seeing tankers that are drifting, wandering or changing their behavior.”
Among them is Hyperion, who was heading towards jose It docked at a port in Venezuela before making a 90-degree turn early Wednesday and heading north, away from the South American mainland.
The ship, previously part of Russia’s state-owned shipping fleet, was one of 173 sanctioned in the last days of the cruise. biden Administration for allegedly promoting Russian oil sales in violation of sanctions moscowattack of ukraine,
After the penalty, the ship changed its flag from Comoros to Comoros GambiaBut the West African nation removed the Hyperion, along with dozens of other ships, from its privately operated ship registry in November on charges of using false certificates claiming to be issued by its maritime authority,
Ownership of the ship is also obscured under multiple layers of offshore companies, some of which are listed. Dubai, united arab emirates,
“It’s just screaming that it’s in a position to be seized,” Wiese Bockman said.