<figure id="attachment_3237733" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3237733" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3237733" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/47c5cf8e-venezuela-1.jpg" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3237733" class="wp-caption-text">The M Sophia and Galileo are among seven vessels linked to Venezuelan oil exports captured by the US military and Coast Guard in recent weeks. (EPA Images pic)</figcaption></figure>
PONCE: Two oil tankers seized this month by the US in its campaign against Venezuela were near Puerto Rico on Wednesday, a Reuters witness and Tankertrackers.com data said, the first sightings almost since their capture and a possible hint at their destination.
The ships are the supertanker M Sophia, seized by the US on Jan 7 carrying Venezuelan oil, and the smaller tanker Galileo, formerly called Veronica and taken last week empty, although it has previously carried Venezuelan oil.
The M Sophia and Galileo are among seven vessels linked to Venezuelan oil exports captured by the US military and Coast Guard in recent weeks, mostly in the Caribbean Sea.
US officials have not disclosed destinations or plans for the seized vessels. The US Coast Guard declined to comment, directing enquiries to the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.
Because the vessels&#8217; geolocating beacons have not been turned on, the locations of M Sophia and Galileo were unknown until the Tankertrackers.com and witness confirmation on Wednesday.
The vessels could remain in Puerto Rico or be moved to another US port. The other five captured tankers are near the US Gulf Coast, in Venezuelan waters and near Scotland, shipping data showed.
US President Donald Trump has said the US intervention – including the capture of President Nicolás Maduro on Jan 3 – is aimed at stopping drug trafficking.
Washington intends to direct Venezuela’s government and revive the country’s crippled oil sector by bringing major US oil companies in to rebuild it.
Trump has imposed a blockade to prevent sanctioned tankers from shipping Venezuelan oil, which in December brought exports close to a standstill. Shipments have accelerated in January under US supervision, but millions of barrels remain in onshore and floating storage.
The US government has filed for court warrants to seize dozens more tankers linked to the Venezuelan oil trade, sources told Reuters last week. This week, vessel Sagitta was intercepted.
Along with most tankers under Western sanctions or part of the so-called shadow fleet, many of the Venezuela-linked tankers were built over 20 years ago and pose hazards to shipping because they lack safety certification and adequate insurance, experts said.
That means that if they have a collision or oil spill, establishing insurance claims or liability is very difficult to impossible, shipping and insurance industry sources said.
The age of these tankers, which exceeds the industry standard of 15 years, also raises concern about potential environmental damage, the sources said.
US government civil forfeiture claims related to the ship seizures can take months or years to resolve, meaning there may be no immediate solutions to the challenges.
&#8220;These &#8216;dark fleet&#8217; tankers can be incredibly unsafe. They are elderly, their crew work in unsafe conditions, they lack the appropriate classification surveys, and they are often backed by fake insurance or no insurance at all,&#8221; said David Tannenbaum, a director at consulting firm Blackstone Compliance Services.

MatchPoint Times

After vanishing from view, 2 US-seized Venezuelan oil tankers reappear near Puerto Rico

The whereabouts of M Sophia and Galileo were only confirmed Wednesday after tracking beacons were found to be inactive.

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