By Arathy Somasekhar
HOUSTON, March 11 (Reuters) – An oil tanker seized by the United States for carrying Venezuelan oil is set to transfer the crude to a smaller vessel off the coast of Texas that can take it to shore, ship tracking data showed on Wednesday.
The United States last month sought to take ownership of the supertanker Skipper and the roughly 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan oil it was carrying when it was seized in December. It was the first oil tanker seized as part of a U.S. strategy of increased pressure against Nicolas Maduro before the Venezuelan president was captured in January.
Medium-sized vessel PVT Poseidon was headed toward the Skipper to transfer a part of the crude, ship tracking data on LSEG and Kpler showed, and is then expected to navigate to shore. The Skipper is too large to transit through the Houston Ship Channel and has been anchored outside of Galveston since its seizure.
The United States is seeking forfeiture of the tanker, a legal process in which the government permanently seizes a vessel and its cargo without compensation due to violations such as sanctions or smuggling.
U.S. forces have intercepted 10 tankers since December and released at least two of them to the interim Venezuelan government, according to Reuters analysis.
Oil from seized ships is typically sold, and the proceeds are directed to funds related to U.S. victims of state-sponsored terrorism.
The anchoring of seized Venezuela-linked tankers had raised concerns as many of them were built more than 20 years ago, and also lack safety certification and adequate insurance. That means that if they have a collision or oil spill, establishing insurance claims or liability is very difficult to impossible, according to shipping and insurance industry sources.
The age of these tankers, which exceeds the industry standard of 15 years, also raises concern about potential environmental damage, the sources said.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Will Dunham)
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