The United States will hand over to Venezuela a tanker it seized in Latin American waters on January 7, two US officials told Reuters on Wednesday. However, they did not provide the reason why the administration of US President Donald Trump decided to take this step, writes TASR.
- The US will return the M/T Sophia supertanker seized in January to Venezuela.
- President Trump’s administration did not provide a reason for the move.
- This is the first case of the return of a detained oil tanker under Trump.
- Washington has seized seven Venezuelan tankers since late last year.
- The US plans to invest in the recovery of Venezuela’s oil industry.
The officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, confirmed that it is the M/T Sophia supertanker sailing under the Panamanian flag. According to the agency, this is the first known case when the Trump administration returned a seized oil tanker. The US Coast Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The United States has been trying to detain oil tankers linked to Venezuela for several months. According to Reuters, they seized a total of seven vessels since the end of last year. The tanker Sophia was detained by the US Coast Guard and armed forces on January 7. At the time, the government said it was a “stateless, sanctioned Dark Fleet motor tanker”.
Washington has been trying to control the production, processing and distribution of Venezuelan oil since the January 3 arrest of former president Nicolás Maduro and his wife by US forces. Trump met with oil company officials in early January to discuss investing $100 billion to repair and modernize Venezuela’s oil industry. The authorities want to use the funds from seized tankers as part of the restoration.
