US targets 'dark fleet' oil tanker near Venezuela

Vendors and customers fill a street market in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, during the weekend leading up to Christmas, on December 20. - AP PHOTO

ON December 21, the US Coast Guard was reportedly chasing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, marking the second such operation this weekend and potentially the third in under two weeks if successful.

Several media houses, including Reuters, reported, citing US officials, that the guard was pursuing a sanctioned "dark fleet vessel" as part of efforts in what was described as "part of Venezuela's illegal sanctions evasion."

At 4.51 pm on December 20, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the second seizure in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

"In a pre-dawn action early this morning on December 20, the US Coast Guard, with the support of the Department of War, apprehended an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela," the post said.

"The US will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region. We will find you, and we will stop you. Thank you to our brave men and women of the @USCG and @DeptofWar."

In response, Venezuela condemned the second seizure in a statement posted on Telegram by Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on the night of December 20.

"Venezuela categorically denounces and rejects the theft and hijacking of another private vessel transporting Venezuelan oil, as well as the forced disappearance of its crew, perpetrated by US military personnel in international waters."

The first seizure happened on December 10, in international waters, when US forces seized the large crude carrier, Skipper, off the Venezuelan coast.

Days later, on December 16, US President Donald Trump announced a blockade on all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. He added the US would not allow a "hostile regime to take our oil, land, or any other assets, all of which must be returned to the US, immediately."

Condemning the second seizure, as it did with the first, the statement said: "This serious act of piracy is a flagrant violation of the crime stipulated in Article 3 of the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation."

"It is also a gross violation of Article 2 of the Charter of the UN, Article 2 of the Geneva Convention on the High Seas, and the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning friendly relations and co-operation among states, and other applicable norms of international law."

The statement said the "colonialist model" that the US government seeks to impose with these practices will fail and be defeated by the Venezuelan people.

"Venezuela will continue its economic growth, based on its 14 engines and the independent and sovereign development of its hydrocarbon industry," it said.

"Venezuela reaffirms that these acts will not go unpunished and will take all corresponding actions, including filing complaints with the UN Security Council, other multilateral organisations, and the governments of the world."

The statement concluded that international law would prevail, and those responsible for these serious crimes will answer to justice and history for their conduct.

The Nicolas Maduro-led administration has repeatedly accused the Trump administration of trying to overthrow his regime and seize control of Venezuela's natural resources.

The US, however, has maintained that its military build-up in the Southern Caribbean is part of its fight against narco-terrorism.

At least 104 people have been killed in 28 strikes since early September in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has thrown her support behind Trump’s deadly fight against drugs by allowing the US military to access TT’s airports and install a radar system at the airport in Tobago.

Following the first fatal strike she said she had no sympathy for drug traffickers and that “the US military should kill them all violently.”