US Tracks Oil Tanker to Indian Ocean, Climbs Aboard
Newser • • world
Key Points:
- The US military tracked and stopped the tanker Bertha, which was operating in defiance of President Trump's quarantine on sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.
- The Bertha, flagged to the Cook Islands, is under US sanctions related to Iran and has been involved in smuggling crude oil, including Iranian crude, to China.
- Venezuela has relied on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to circumvent US sanctions on its oil, with at least 16 tankers fleeing the coast after Maduro's capture.
- The Bertha was carrying approximately 1.9 million barrels of crude oil and was the only tanker remaining from the original group pursued by US forces.
- The Pentagon has not confirmed whether the Bertha was formally seized or placed
