The seizure this week of the oil tanker Skipper off the coast of Venezuela appeared to signal a new stage in the Trump administration’s effort to oust President Nicolás Maduro by strangling with sanctions and military pressure an economy that relies heavily on overseas oil sales, primarily to China.
As part of the campaign, the United States is likely to capture more sanctioned oil vessels off the Venezuelan coast, according to three people familiar with the administration’s plans. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, asked about the effort Thursday, said the administration is “executing on the president’s sanction policies and the sanction policies of the United States” but declined to share details.
“We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narco-terrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world,” Leavitt told a news briefing.
The Treasury Department on Thursday announced sanctions against three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores and a business executive close to Maduro. All four were previously sanctioned, although the Biden administration lifted the measures against the nephews during a prisoner exchange deal.
Six other oil tankers, and the companies to which they’re registered, were added to the list of sanctioned vessels. The Treasury Department said the ships “have engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime.”
The business executive is Ramón Carretero Napolitano, a Panamanian who facilitates shipments of petroleum products for the Venezuelan government.
Venezuela’s economy depends heavily on oil sales, particularly to China, the world’s largest customer. To bypass Western financial systems and shipping services, China relies on “dark fleet” tankers, typically aging vessels that operate with false registrations and flags.
By targeting sanctioned oil tankers loading Venezuelan crude destined for China, analysts say, the administration could dissuade such ships from going to Venezuela, which would deliver a major blow to an economy already in crisis.
“Every sanctioned vessel that’s thinking about coming to Venezuela is now being warned that the U.S. government could very well board you,” said an adviser to energy companies engaged in Venezuela’s oil sector. He spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect the confidentiality of his clients.
“It could have a major chilling effect on vessel owners and operators,” the adviser said. “Do I want to take the risk of going to Venezuela and getting boarded by American authorities?”
The seizure has unnerved Venezuelan authorities, according to one person in touch with the government; some, the person said are in “full-scale panic.” PDVSA, the state-owned oil company, convened an urgent board meeting on Thursday to discuss, the person said.
The U.S. Coast Guard, with the help of the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, executed a seizure warrant Wednesday for a crude oil tanker that was allegedly used to transport oil from Venezuela and Iran in defiance of sanctions, Attorney General Pam Bondi said. A White House official confirmed it was carrying oil from PDVSA.
The Justice Department requested and was approved for a warrant to seize the vessel, Leavitt said, “because it’s a sanctioned shadow vessel known for carrying black market sanctioned oil” that funded Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah, which are also sanctioned entities.
Leavitt said the vessel was now undergoing a forfeiture process, and an investigative team was interviewing crew members and seizing any relevant evidence.
“With respect to the oil, that’s a different issue,” Leavitt said. “The vessel will go to a U.S. port and the United States does intend to seize the oil. However, there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil, and that legal process will be followed.”
The extent of U.S. sanctions, and the legality of permanently seizing either the vessel or its owner, remained unclear. Both the Skipper and its listed owner when it operated under a previous name have been targeted with the U.S. sanctions for years for allegedly providing support to Iran and its ally Hezbollah, each of which are also sanctioned.
The question of who owns the cargo and the legality of the U.S. confiscating it were also unclear. Although the Trump administration has warned other countries not to purchase Venezuelan oil, the oil itself is not sanctioned.
U.S. sanctions prohibit Americans from doing business with sanctioned individuals, entities and vessels, which include PDVSA, unless specifically exempted. The administration this year renewed a Treasury Department license for Chevron to produce and export Venezuelan oil, but only to the United States. Trump signed an executive order in the spring that imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on any other country that purchases Venezuelan oil, but the measure has not yet been implemented.
The Skipper has been operating under a false Guyanese flag, according to the shipping database Equasis.
Many of the more than 20 sanctioned tankers that were operating off the Venezuelan coast on Thursday are falsely flagged, Michelle Wiese Bockmann, a senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward, told The Post. Under the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea, vessels that operate without legitimate flags are considered to have no nationality and consequently can be boarded under any national authority. About 400 ships around the world are falsely flagged Bockmann said.
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