By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) – The United States is handing over a tanker to Venezuela that it seized this month, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday, the first known instance in which President Donald Trump’s administration has returned such a tanker.
The United States has been carrying out a months-long effort to seize oil tankers linked to Venezuela – carrying out seven apprehensions since late last year.
The officials, who were speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the tanker that is being handed to Venezuelan authorities was the Panama-flagged supertanker M/T Sophia. They did not say why the tanker was returned.
The U.S. Coast Guard, which leads interdiction and seizure operations, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Sophia was interdicted on January 7 by the Coast Guard and U.S. military forces. At the time, the administration said the Sophia, which is under sanctions, was a “stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker.”
Trump has focused his foreign policy in Latin America on Venezuela, initially aiming to push Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power. After failing to find a diplomatic solution, Trump ordered U.S. forces to fly into the country to grab him and his wife in a daring overnight raid on January 3.
Since then, Trump has said the U.S. plans to control Venezuela’s oil resources indefinitely as it seeks to rebuild the country’s dilapidated oil industry in a $100 billion plan.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Chris Reese, Rod Nickel)
