In a new act of piracy, the US seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker on Wednesday, after pursuing it for more than two weeks across the Atlantic.
It appeared to be the first time in recent memory that the US military has seized a Russian-flagged vessel.
Russia’s transport ministry said it had lost all contact with the Marinera after U.S. naval forces boarded it. A senior Russian lawmaker from the ruling United Russia party, Andrei Klishas, said the U.S. seizure was an act of outright piracy, the TASS state news agency reported.
Separately, the U.S. Coast Guard also intercepted another Venezuela-linked tanker in Latin American waters on Wednesday.
The U.S. military’s Southern Command said the Panama-flagged supertanker M Sophia, which is under sanctions, was intercepted before dawn and described it as a “stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker.”
Top Venezuelan officials blasted President Maduro’s kidnapping and have accused the US of trying to steal the country’s vast oil reserves, estimated to be the largest in the world.
Meanwhile, the US will control sales of sanctioned Venezuelan oil “indefinitely” as it prepares to roll back restrictions on the country’s crude in global markets, the White House said.
Source: Wesbites