Another Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker seized in Caribbean
The Sagitta (Photo: x.com/Southcom)
The United States military has detained the Russian-linked oil tanker Sagitta in the Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said on Jan. 20.
“This morning, U.S. military forces, in support of the Department of Homeland Security, apprehended Motor Vessel Sagitta without incident,” SOUTHCOM said in a Twitter post.
“The apprehension of another tanker operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully.”
According to the monitoring site War Sanction, Sagitta is subject to sanctions by Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the European Union, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand. Investigators say the vessel repeatedly loaded Russian crude at Baltic and Pacific ports and delivered it to China and India after disabling its automatic identification system to evade oversight.
Greenpeace has identified Sagitta as part of the so-called “shadow fleet,” a network of malinsured ships that transport Russian oil in violation of international sanctions, raising additional environmental concerns. This seizure follows earlier U.S. actions against “shadow fleet” tankers: Veronica, Bella 1 (now Marinera), and Sophia.
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