Sanctioned oil tankers try mass run at US blockade of Venezuela

At least 15 U.S. sanctioned oil tankers have reportedly broken the complete blockade of Venezuelan oil exports since the Saturday capture of ousted socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, using so-called “dark mode” tactics to evade capture.

The now-departed ships had been docked in Venezuelan ports for weeks, the New York Times (NYT) reported Monday. Tankers in the group used techniques employed by the modern “ghost fleet” of sanction skirting ships, including painting names of decommissioned vessels on ships’ hulls, misrepresenting their positions, and leaving in coordinated fashion to escape the blockade.

Four tankers, now some 30-miles off port, were tracked by satellite sailing east, according to the NYT. These tankers did not secure authorization from the new interim government led by Maduro’s former vice president, the NYT reported citing internal communications and two anonymous sources in the Venezuelan oil industry. The remaining ships have not been located and are not broadcasting any signals.

A crude oil tanker sails on the shore of Lake Maracaibo, Zulia state, Venezuela, on December 31, 2025. On December 30, 2025, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the United States bombed a suspected cocaine factory in the port city of Maracaibo, Venezuela. (Photo by Maryorin Mendez / AFP via Getty Images)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/sanctioned-oil-tankers-try-mass-run-at-us-blockade-of-venezuela/ar-AA1TChCF