LONDON: The United States will hand over to Venezuela one of the tankers it seized earlier this month, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed...
LONDON: The United States will hand over to Venezuela one of the tankers it seized earlier this month, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed US officials.
According to the officials, the tanker that will be handed over to Venezuela is the Panama-flagged supertanker M/T Sophia that was seized in the Caribbean on January 7. The agency noted that this is the first case when the US administration is returning such a tanker. The sources did not say, however, what was the reason behind such a decision.
The US Coast Guard was not immediately available for comment, the agency said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said after the vessel was detained that it was a stateless ship. On the following day, Panama’s Maritime Authority said that the Sophia had been removed from the national register of ships as far back as January 2025.
Since December 2025, the United States has seized seven tankers in the Caribbean and North Atlantic.
On January 3, the United States attacked civilian and military facilities in Caracas. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto condemned Washington’s actions as a military aggression. A state of emergency has been imposed in Venezuela. Trump confirmed the attack on Venezuela. He also said that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife had been captured and taken out of the country. On January 5, the couple appeared before the US Federal Court for the Southern District of New York, where they face charges of alleged involvement in drug trafficking. Both have pleaded not guilty. Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president on January 6. Meanwhile, Trump said that Washington would "run" Venezuela in the interim and promised to seek compensation from Caracas for American oil companies, while these firms would allocate funds to restore Venezuela's oil infrastructure.
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