The US is preparing to detain other oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, after the first capture. A list has been drawn up

The United States is preparing to intercept other ships carrying Venezuelan oil, after this week they detained the first loaded oil tanker, said six sources familiar with the situation, quoted by the Reuters news agency, News.ro reports.

The measure marks an escalation of pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in the context of US sanctions imposed in 2019 and a large military deployment in the southern Caribbean Sea, concurrent with President Donald Trump's campaign to remove him.

The capture of the tanker – the first direct intervention on a Venezuelan crude oil shipment – has alerted shipowners, operators and shipping agents involved in the transportation of oil from Venezuela, many of whom are now hesitant to leave Venezuelan ports.

According to sources cited by Reuters, new interventions on ships suspected of transporting oil from sanctioned countries, such as Iran, are expected in the coming weeks.

Sources close to the investigation said Washington had drawn up a list of tankers targeted for possible seizure. The Department of Justice and Homeland Security have been preparing these operations for several months.

A possible reduction or stoppage of Venezuelan exports, the Maduro regime's main source of income, would significantly affect the government's ability to finance its activities.

Oil tankers at sea, as well as those in Venezuelan ports, are monitored by the US

The new US strategy focuses on the so-called “shadow fleet”, a network of tankers that transport sanctioned oil to China, the biggest buyer of Venezuela and Iran. The vessels involved in such operations are often old, with difficult-to-identify owners and without high-level insurance, which complicates the process of seizure and unloading at international ports.

The detention of the Skipper, previously sanctioned for carrying Iranian oil, prompted a carrier to suspend three recently loaded runs totaling nearly 6 million barrels of Merey oil, Venezuela's main export.

US forces monitor both oil tankers at sea and ships in Venezuelan ports undergoing loading or repairs, waiting for them to enter international waters.

Another tanker, the Seahorse, sanctioned by Britain and the European Union for links to Russia's oil trade, had already been monitored and temporarily detained by a US ship in November before entering Venezuela.

The Venezuelan government denounced the capture of the Skipper as “a crime of international piracy”, but experts in the law of the sea say that the term does not apply legally in this case.

“The capture was authorized by the US, so it cannot be considered piracy,” said Laurence Atkin-Teillet, a specialist in maritime law at Nottingham Law School.

American operations are expected to continue, depending on the availability of ports that can receive the seized oil tankers and the assessment of their related risks.