How a U.S.-Blacklisted Tanker Bypassed the Blockade of Venezuela

One of the supertankers has managed to break through the U.S. maritime blockade and reach Venezuela.

The TankerTrackers specialized monitoring group reported on this.

According to the report, the Panama-flagged vessel is on the U.S. sanctions list. It typically operates under the identity of a scrapped tanker, yet it was still able to enter Venezuelan waters without interference.

It is noted that the crew deliberately falsified AIS data – the Automatic Identification System.

According to the transmitted information, the tanker was supposedly located in a completely different region of the world.

The analyst did not provide further details: neither the name of the vessel nor its owners was disclosed.

It also remains unknown where the tanker is currently located and whether it has left Venezuela’s territorial waters.

Blockade of Venezuela

It was recently reported that U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the introduction of a full maritime blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuelan ports.

In addition, Trump stated that the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been officially designated a foreign terrorist organization.

In his post, the American leader emphasized that Venezuela is allegedly completely surrounded by “the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America.”

He also stated that he had ordered the implementation of a “full and total blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers heading to Venezuela or departing from its ports.

Last week, media outlets reported that the United States is preparing to increasingly intercept vessels transporting Venezuelan oil that are under Washington’s sanctions.

On December 10, American forces stationed in the Caribbean took full control of an oil tanker near the coast of Venezuela.