A tanker is under US military surveillance 250 miles off the coast of Ireland while about a dozen vessels with Venezuelan oil are apparently trying to evade a naval blockade in the Caribbean.
The ships, which are under US sanctions, turned off transmission signals that can be used to follow them after they sailed from Venezuela, according to TankerTrackers.com. The monitoring service said satellite images showed at least four left Venezuelan waters through a route north of Isla Margarita, the country’s largest island and a popular resort.
The ship being monitored about 250 miles from the Irish coast reportedly started its journey in Iran and was due to collect oil in Venezuela before running into the US blockade and leaving the Caribbean in December. It has changed its name from Bella 1 to Marinera, its registration from Guyanese to Russian and appears to have set course for Russia.
US naval forces are not in pursuit but P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft deployed from the UK and Iceland are patrolling the waters around the Marinera, the Irish Times reported.
Washington said on Sunday it was imposing a “quarantine” on Venezuelan oil to keep pressure on its government after the seizure of Nicolás Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges in the US.
The US raid followed a steady buildup of a flotilla in the Caribbean and an announcement on 16 December from Donald Trump, the US president, of a “complete blockade” on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. There is an exemption for oil shipped by Chevron.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, claimed it was one of the biggest naval quarantines in modern history and was throttling Venezuela’s revenue stream. Washington also wanted to stop Venezuelan oil benefiting US adversaries, he added.
The New York Times reported that at least 16 oil tankers appeared to have tried to break out over the past two days, in part by using fake ship names and misrepresenting their positions, a tactic known as spoofing.
Four left port without authorisation from the interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez, suggesting a possible defiance of her authority, the paper said. It cited internal communications from the state-owned oil company, PDVSA, and oil industry sources.
Reuters reported that a separate group of vessels, also under sanctions, left Venezuela empty after delivering cargos and completing domestic transportation trips.
The Venezuelan government has accused the US of “piracy” but after Maduro’s abduction it has also called for a “balanced and respectful” relationship in an apparent effort to prevent further military action.