The U.S. Coast Guard over the weekend was “in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion,” an official told ABC News. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order,” the official said at the time.

Tanker loading in Venezuela dwindled on Monday, following U.S. action against two more ships and as state-run energy company PDVSA struggles to recover from a cyberattack.

Ship tracking and satellite imagery shows Skipper, the first oil tanker seized by the US near Venezuela, is now off the coast of Texas The US Department of Justice has released more files related to Jeffrey Epstein - we're checking what they reveal about him

The fleet of ghost ships Venezuela uses to smuggle part of its oil to black markets, which President Donald Trump vowed this week to stop with a military blockade, is made up of dozens of old tankers and operates following the example of other nations under sanctions such as Russia and Iran,