US-seized oil tanker linked to Venezuelan effort to support Cuba

The oil tanker seized by the US off Venezuela's coast this week was involved in a Venezuelan government effort to support Cuba, documents and sources within Venezuela's oil industry said.

The tanker Skipper departed Venezuela on Dec. 4 with about 2 million barrels of the country's heavy crude oil, The New York Times reported, citing internal data from Venezuela state oil company PDVSA.

The data indicates that the ship was scheduled to arrive at the Cuban port of Matanzas.

Two days after leaving port, the Skipper offloaded roughly 50,000 barrels of oil to the vessel Neptune 6, which headed north toward Cuba, according to shipping data company Kpler.

The Skipper then sailed east toward Asia with most of its cargo still aboard, a US official said.

On Friday, Cuban officials denounced the US seizure of the tanker, describing it in a statement as an "act of piracy and maritime terrorism" that harms Cuba and its people.

A Panamanian businessman, Ramon Carretero, is the central figure overseeing oil shipments between Cuba and Venezuela and has become one of the largest traders of Venezuelan crude in recent years, according to PDVSA data and individuals close to Venezuela's government.

On Thursday, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Carretero for "facilitating shipments of petroleum products on behalf of the Venezuelan government."