The United States announced on Thursday (11) a new package of sanctions against Venezuela, focusing on the oil sector and members of President Nicolás Maduro’s family. The measures come as the American government seeks legal support to seize the cargo of a .
The sanctions affect three nephews of Maduro’s wife and six shipping companies accused of participating in the flow of Venezuelan oil, the country’s main source of revenue. The US Treasury has blocked the companies Myra Marine, Arctic Voyager, Poweroy Investment, Ready Great, Sino Marine Services and Full Happy, preventing international business from being carried out with them.
At the same time, President Donald Trump’s administration is trying to obtain judicial authorization for . According to the White House, the ship belongs to a fleet used in the past to smuggle Iranian oil, which was the basis for the warrant to seize the vessel, but not the cargo currently on board.
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“There is a legal process for seizing this oil, and this process will be followed,” said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in an interview with journalists.
The Skipper has a capacity of up to 2 million barrels and was almost completely loaded at a Venezuelan port about a month ago, according to data from the company Kpler. The value of the cargo was estimated at approximately US$78 million. Before the seizure, the ship transferred around 50,000 barrels to another vessel, the Neptune 6, on the high seas near Curaçao. This second ship is heading towards Cuba, according to Kpler.
American authorities stated that the use of military and police forces to take possession of a foreign ship on the high seas is unusual, but they justified the action based on the history of the Skipper, already sanctioned in 2022 for involvement in the transport of Iranian oil. According to the Department of Justice, this history allowed the vessel to be seized.
The new sanctions also target two nephews of Maduro who were arrested in 2015 and convicted in 2016 of drug trafficking in the United States, but who received presidential clemency in 2022 and returned to Venezuela. According to the US Treasury, they continued to be involved in trafficking after returning to the country.
US authorities have indicated that the measures could reduce the number of ships willing to carry Venezuelan oil, increasing the country’s economic isolation. Despite this, there was no immediate impact on oil prices, which remained at around US$58 per barrel on the American market, reflecting the fact that Venezuelan production represents less than 1% of global consumption.
