At least four tankers, most of them loaded, that had departed from Venezuela in early January in "dark mode" — or with their transponders off amid a strict U.S. blockade — are now back in the South American country’s waters, according to state company PDVSA and monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.
A flotilla of about a dozen loaded vessels and at least three other empty ships left Venezuelan waters last month in apparent defiance of an embargo imposed by President Donald Trump since mid-December, which has dragged down the country’s oil exports to minimum.
One of the ships, the Panama-flagged supertanker M Sophia, was intercepted and seized by the U.S. this week when returning to the country; while another, the Aframax tanker Olina with a flag from Sao Tome And Principe, was intercepted but released to Venezuela on Friday, state company PDVSA said.
Three more of the vessels that had departed in that flotilla, Panama-flagged Merope, Cook Islands-flagged Min Hang and Panama-flagged Thalia III, were spotted by Tankertrackers.com in Venezuelan waters late on Friday through satellite images.
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron late on...
Donald Trump has again lashed out at Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, saying he should focus on...
Israel’s Chief Rabbinate has declined to condemn the smashing of a statue of Jesus by a...
Israel is in crisis. Since October 2023 it has been in a permanent state of war...
