• White House says crew will be prosecuted; Hegseth asserts naval blockade in full effect ‘around the world’
• Trump boasts of getting ‘30-50m barrels’ of crude; energy secy claims US will control Venezuelan oil ‘indefinitely’
WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic after pursuing it from off the coast of Venezuela, in an operation that incensed Moscow.
Washington claims the tanker is part of a so-called ‘shadow fleet’ that carries oil for countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran in violation of US sanctions, and seized it despite the ship even though it was escorted by a Russian naval submarine.
The vessel had thwarted an earlier attempt to board it last month near Venezuela.
“The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court,” the US European Command, which oversees American forces in the region, said in a statement on X.
After the seizure of the Russian oil tanker, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth posted that the US blockade on Venezuelan oil was in full effect “anywhere in the world”.
Later, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the crew of the seized oil tanker was subject to prosecution.
“The vessel had a judicial seizure order… so that means the crew is now subject to prosecution for any applicable violation of federal law, and they will be brought to the United States for such prosecution, if necessary,” she said.
Russia slams US action
Russia’s Transport Ministry slammed the oil tanker’s seizure, saying “freedom of navigation applies in waters on the high seas, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered under the jurisdiction of other states”.
“In accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies in waters on the high seas, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered under the jurisdiction of other states,” Russia’s transport ministry said in a statement.
The vessel — which changed its name from Bella-1 to Marinera — had received “temporary permission” to sail under the Russian flag on December 24, the ministry said, adding that “contact with the ship was lost” after US naval forces boarded it “in the open sea, beyond the territorial waters of any state”.
The US military also announced a second sanctioned tanker ship had been seized in the Caribbean Sea.
Last weekend, US special forces had seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from Caracas in an unprecendented raid, and took them to New York “to face trial on drug charges”.
Since then, President Donald Trump has said that the US will “run” Venezuela and US companies will control its critical oil industry.
He is due to meet with US oil executives on Friday (tomorrow) over plans for Venezuela’s oil sector.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said that 30-50 million barrels of “high quality, sanctioned” Venezuelan crude will be shipped to US ports, with the revenue — perhaps more than $2 billion at current market prices — placed under his personal control.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright later added that Washington would control sales of Venezuelan oil “indefinitely”.
It was not clear whether Venezuela’s new ruler — interim president Delcy Rodriguez — has agreed to hand over the oil, how the plan would work, or what its legal basis would be.
China may switch to Iranian crude
Meanwhile, Chinese refiners are expected to switch to heavy crude from sources including Iran in coming months to replace Venezuelan shipments halted since the US kidnapped the country’s president, traders and analysts said.
China, the world’s biggest crude importer, is a major buyer of discounted sanctioned oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
