US returns seized tanker M/T Sophia to Venezuela

The United States is returning seized tanker M/T Sophia to Venezuela, two U.S. officials told Reuters on 28 January.

The Panama‑flagged supertanker M/T Sophia, which U.S. forces seized on January 7 as part of a broader campaign against vessels linked to Venezuelan oil shipments, is being handed over to Venezuelan authorities. U.S. officials did not explain why the ship is being returned or whether it still carries oil.

The Sophia was intercepted in the Caribbean by the U.S. Coast Guard and military forces under sanctions enforcement efforts described by Washington as targeting illicit oil movements. Both the U.S. Coast Guard and Venezuela’s communications ministry have so far declined to comment publicly on the return, Reuters reports. 

M/T Sophia was one of the seven Venezuela-linked tankers that the  U.S. military has seized so far this month since the capture of Maduro and his wife on 3 January. 

source : safety4sea