The United States government has confirmed that the Panama-flagged vessel, Centuries, which was intercepted on Saturday off the Venezuelan coast, is indeed part of Maduro's so-called "phantom fleet."
According to Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the White House, "The tanker was carrying sanctioned PDVSA oil. It was a vessel with a false flag, operating as part of the Venezuelan phantom fleet to smuggle stolen oil and finance Maduro's narcoterrorist regime," she stated on the social media platform X.
This statement was in response to a report by The New York Times, which claimed that Centuries was not listed among the U.S.-sanctioned ships and was owned by a China-based oil company.
On Saturday, the U.S. government declassified images of the seizure of this second oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast. "In a pre-dawn operation on December 20, the U.S. Coast Guard, with the support of the Department of Defense, apprehended a tanker last seen docked in Venezuela," stated Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, on X.
Noem further asserted, "The United States will continue to target the illicit oil trafficking used to fund narcoterrorism in the region. We will find them and stop them."
Meanwhile, a third vessel, the Bella-1, flying the Panamanian flag, was seized on Sunday in international waters near Venezuela. According to a government source confirmed by Bloomberg, the ship was en route to Venezuela.
The Bella-1 is linked to Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises, which has connections to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, and has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) since June 2024.
Additionally, the first of the seized vessels from last week, capable of carrying over 320,000 tons of crude, was transporting oil destined for Cuba and was part of an illegal network moving sanctioned crude from Venezuela and Iran.
In 2019, the U.S. implemented energy sanctions on Venezuela, leading buyers and refiners to rely on a "phantom" or "shadow" fleet of tankers that obscure their locations. Such fleets are at risk of punitive measures from Washington.
Understanding the U.S. Actions Against Venezuela's Oil Trade
What is the "phantom fleet" mentioned in the article?
The "phantom fleet" refers to a group of tankers that disguise their location and identity to smuggle oil, often to bypass international sanctions. This fleet is used to transport sanctioned oil from countries like Venezuela and Iran.
Why did the U.S. impose sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry?
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry in 2019 to pressure the Maduro regime, which it accuses of corruption and violating democratic processes, and to cut off funding sources for activities deemed as narcoterrorism.
How does the U.S. intercept these vessels?
The U.S. uses its Coast Guard and other defense resources to monitor and intercept vessels suspected of engaging in illegal oil trade. This includes operations based on intelligence and surveillance of shipping routes.