We’ve got more to bring you on the Olina tanker, the ship being seized by the US in the Caribbean.
“The vessel’s AIS [location] tracker was last active 52 days
ago in the Venezuelan EEZ, northeast of Curacao,” British
maritime risk management company Vanguard says.
“The seizure follows a prolonged pursuit of tankers linked
to sanctioned Venezuelan oil shipments in the region.”
The Olina left Venezuela last week fully loaded with oil, Reuters news agency reports, citing an industry source.
It adds this was part of a flotilla that left shortly after the US seized Nicolas Maduro, the ousted Venezuelan president, on 3 January.
Reuters also reports that the US imposed sanctions on the tanker in January last year, when it was named the Minerva M.
Washington said this was for being allegedly part of the shadow fleet of oil tankers.