The oil tanker seized by the United States off the Venezuelan coast was falsely flying a flag of Guyana, a country neighboring Venezuela that has supported the US military deployment in the Caribbean.
According to a statement from the Guyana Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), the tanker named Skipper is not registered in Guyana.
The Marad has observed the proliferation and unacceptable trend of unauthorized use of the Guyanese flag by vessels not registered in Guyana, the statement said.
The entity assured that it will continue to collaborate with international partners and other maritime agencies to identify, pursue and take firm action against any unauthorized use of the Guyanese flag.
Regarding yesterday's operation in Caribbean waters, US President Donald Trump said it was a very large oil tanker, the largest ever seized.
For its part, the Venezuelan government described the confiscation of the oil tanker as a blatant robbery and warned that it would appeal to international bodies to denounce this serious international crime.
The seizure of the oil tanker occurred on the same day that Guyana announced the signing of an agreement with the U.S. to expand military cooperation between the two countries.
Guyana's President Irfaan Ali explained that the agreement provides for enhanced training and long-term collaboration under existing agreements such as Shiprider, which allows US security personnel to pursue, intercept, and board drug-trafficking vessels in Guyanese waters.
The signing took place after meetings with senior U.S. officials, including the senior advisor to the Secretary of War, Patrick Weaver, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Joseph Humire.
Since the U.S. Southern Command launched Operation Southern Spear, they have sunk about twenty boats allegedly carrying drugs, extrajudicially killing more than 80 crew members described by Washington as narco-terrorists.
