Axios: The US will seize more oil tankers from Venezuela

According to Isna, during the latest tensions between Washington and Caracas and the US government’s excuses for its military actions in the Caribbean, US President Donald Trump recently claimed that this new phase of tensions could soon include “ground attacks on Venezuela”.

One of Donald Trump’s advisers told the Axios News website: “The American president has many tools in his toolbox, and seizing more oil tankers is one of them.”

Currently, 18 ships carrying the embargoed oil are in Venezuelan waters. According to Samir Madani, co-founder of global shipping tracker Tanker Trackers, the eight vessels are classified as “very large cargo container ships” like the Skipper, which can carry nearly 2 million barrels of Venezuelan crude.

“It’s a very diverse option for the United States to choose from,” he said.

“We have to wait for them to move,” a Trump adviser told Axios. They are sitting on the dock. As soon as they move, we go to court, get a warrant and then arrest them. “But if they keep us waiting too long, we might get a warrant to take them there, in Venezuelan waters.”

According to Madani and Reuters news agency, 11 million barrels of Venezuelan oil are docked in 39 tankers in Venezuelan waters.

“The reality is that we can seize any ship carrying Venezuelan oil and then seize it very quickly,” said a government adviser, noting that Venezuela’s oil company has been under US sanctions since 2019.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro condemned the US attacks and said the US was guilty of “international piracy”.

end of message