WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) – The U.S. is in the process of seizing the Olina tanker in the Caribbean near Trinidad in the fifth such interdiction of ships in recent weeks as part of Washington’s efforts to control Venezuelan oil exports, a U.S. official said on Friday.
The Olina, which according to public shipping database Equasis was falsely flying the flag of Timor Leste, had previously sailed from Venezuela and had returned to the region when it was seized on Friday, said a shipping source familiar with the matter.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, Chen Aizhu and Jonathan Saul. Editing by Mark Potter)
