#tanker-seizure

#tanker-seizure

US Coast Guard tactical teams worked closely with its counterparts at the Departments of War, Department of Justice and State and used their specialized expertise to conduct these operations and conduct two safe, effective boardings within hours of each other. One of these tankers, Motor Tanker Bella I, has been trying to evade the Coast Guard for weeks, even changing its flag and painting a new name on the hull while being pursued, in a desperate and failed attempt to escape justice.

The US seizure of the Skipper tanker off Venezuela's coast on Wednesday was the first US capture of Venezuelan oil cargo since sanctions were imposed in 2019 and marked a sharp escalation in rising tensions between the Trump administration and the government of Nicolas Maduro. Since the seizure, only tankers chartered by US oil company Chevron have sailed into international waters carrying Venezuelan crude, the data reviewed by the Reuters news agency showed.

Iranian authorities intercepted a foreign tanker in the Gulf of Oman for smuggling 2 million liters of fuel, citing incomplete legal documents related to its cargo.