The US government has sold for scrap two sanctioned oil tankers that were seized in the days after Washington’s raid on Venezuela, Reuters reported.
According to the outlet on Tuesday, Dubai-headquartered vessel recycling firm Global Marketing Systems (GMS) purchased the tankers last month for an undisclosed sum, as per Lloyd’s List report.
The sale included the Era, previously operating as Marinera and Bella 1, and the Lileo, previously sailing as Galileo and Veronica. Sanctioned vessels frequently change names to evade detection.
The tankers are set to be demolished in scrap yards in India.
Buyer says ownership was unclear
“The US government has sold them to us and there was a court order authorizing the sales, but there are complexities, not least the fact that we weren’t really sure who previously owned them,” GMS CEO Anil Sharma told Lloyd’s List.
However, GMS did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
How the tankers were seized
US Coast Guard and military special forces seized the Russian-flagged Era in January in waters south of Iceland, ending a weeks-long pursuit across the Atlantic. The vessel had previously slipped through a US blockade in the Caribbean aimed at stopping oil exports from Venezuela.
Washington said at the time that the Era had been used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
The US also seized the Russian-flagged vessel now known as Lileo in the Caribbean Sea in January. That tanker was subject to US sanctions against Russia.
The US seized as many as 10 oil tankers after its military action in Venezuela.