At least 11 oil tankers on the sanctions list have appeared this week in waters off Venezuela, showing that the ships have escaped the US sea blockade.
Among them, 6 ships operated in the Caribbean Sea region, but moved at least 110km from the Venezuelan coast. One ship in this group was arrested by US forces on January 9.
Three other ships have traveled more than 720km to the Atlantic Ocean and according to an expert, these 3 ships are being chased from afar by US warships.
The 10th ship was discovered off the coast of Grenada, while the 11th ship appeared near the coast of Colombia. According to the Russian Maritime Register, this 11th ship recently switched to flying the Russian flag.
The above ships are among the 16 sanctioned oil tankers that were recorded near Venezuelan ports after the US blockade took effect in December 2025, but then disappeared from the monitoring system. Some ships have reappeared since the beginning of January 2026 and seem to be trying to leave the area.
Data from TankerTrackers.com - an independent company specializing in monitoring oil transport - shows that the 11 oil tankers mentioned above, except for 1 ship, all show signs of being carrying goods. The total amount of oil is estimated at about 9.4 million barrels.
Three oil tankers have traveled more than 720km including Veronica III (hanging Panamanian flag), Bertha (hanging Cook Islands flag) - all subject to US sanctions related to Iran - while Aquila II (hanging Panamanian flag), is subject to sanctions targeting Russia, according to the Foreign Assets Control Office (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department.
A ship believed to be USS Lake Erie - a guided missile cruiser of the US Navy - appeared near Saint Vincent Island earlier this week, heading east, moving more than 480km in 2 days to approach the group of 3 oil tankers mentioned above.
An unnamed US official said that "the quarantine order is still being implemented, focusing on the "dark shadow" ships sanctioned for transporting oil from PDVSA", the Venezuelan national oil and gas corporation.
According to Gregory Brew - an international energy analyst at Eurasia Group - the success of oil tankers overcoming the blockade raises doubts about the actual effectiveness of this measure.
Another expert said that the number of oil tankers passing through the control loop reflects the willingness to take risks of ship owners. Mr. Jorge Leon - head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy - said that it is very difficult to establish an absolute freeze order, and the freeze is mainly to deter through arrest and show of force.
During the week, US forces arrested 2 more ships, not in the group detected through satellite images. The Sophia ship was arrested near the Caribbean Sea. The US military accused this ship of "performing illegal activities" in international waters.
Russian-flagged oil tanker Marinera was intercepted near Iceland after weeks of being chased in the Atlantic Ocean. Russia has condemned the incident, declaring that no country has the right to use force against ships legally registered under the jurisdiction of another country.
