Chinese-flagged VLCC en route to Venezuela despite US blockade
THE 2015-built very large crude carrier Thousand Sunny (IMO: 9623269) has been transporting Venezuelan Merey crude to China for a half-decade. It is Chinese-flagged, of unknown ownership, and it is not sanctioned by the US.
It is currently on a direct course to arrive in Venezuela in mid-January, when it would run into the US blockade.
Thousand Sunny was sold by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in 2020 as part of a series of transactions to facilitate Venezuela-China crude flows. The tanker has been making back-and-forth runs between Jose Terminal, Venezuela and Ningbo, China ever since, according to vessel-position data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
US President Donald Trump announced a “total and complete blockade” of Venezuelan oil on December 16. Thousand Sunny has not diverted or slowed down since his declaration.
The Chinese VLCC rounded the Cape of Good Hope in ballast on December 24. As of Monday, it was in the southern Atlantic on course for Venezuela, travelling at a speed of 12.4 knots.
Another Chinese-flagged VLCC, also unsanctioned and formerly owned by CNPC, has already arrived off South America. It is also scheduled to load in Venezuela in January, according to Vortexa data.
The 2014-built Xing Ye (IMO: 9590058), which last loaded crude in Venezuela in August, has made its return ballast trip and is currently slow steaming off French Guiana. This vessel, as with Thousand Sunny, has operated solely in the Venezuela-China trade since its sale by CNPC to an unknown buyer in 2020.
So far, geopolitical fallout from the US blockade of Venezuela has been minimal, given the flag states — or lack thereof — of the affected vessels.
The VLCC Skipper (IMO: 9304667) was falsely flying the Guyanese flag, providing legal recourse for the US Coast Guard to board it in international waters on December 10.
The US seized the vessel — which was on the US sanctions list for its service in Iranian trades — under anti-terrorism laws. It is currently at anchorage off Galveston, laden with a cargo of Venezuelan crude.
The Panama-flagged VLCC Centuries (IMO: 9206310), which was carrying a cargo of Venezuelan crude, was boarded and seized by the US in international waters on December 19. Panama gave its permission.
Centuries was not sanctioned and has not been involved in the Iranian trade. That raises questions on how the US will legally justify taking the ship and its cargo. As of Monday, there were no unsealed legal documents related to the seizure.
Vessel-position data showed that Centuries was in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday en route to an anchorage off Texas.
In addition, the US Coast Guard attempted to board the unladen VLCC Bella 1 (IMO: 9230880) in international waters on December 20, while it was headed to Venezuela. The ship was sanctioned for its service to Hezbollah, and like Skipper, was falsely flagged to Guyana.
Bella 1 refused to be boarded, and as of Monday, there was no confirmation from the US that the vessel had been seized.
Virtually all Venezuelan crude exports go to China, including cargoes that are initially bound for Malaysia.
During an emergency United Nations session on December 24, Sun Lei, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, said, “As an independent sovereign state, Venezuela has the right to independently develop mutual cooperation with other countries and defend its legitimate rights and interests”. He said that US actions “seriously infringe upon other countries’ sovereignty”.
If Thousand Sunny or Xing Ye were to load Merey crude at Jose Terminal, and sail out of Venezuelan waters, would the US enforce the “total and complete” blockade, or let them pass? US actions, in these cases, would bring the geopolitical dimensions to a new level.
Neither Chinese-flagged VLCC has been involved in Iranian trades, and neither is designated by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control.
US sanctions currently block US entities from transacting with Venezuelan oil company PDVSA if they don’t have a licence, but there are no secondary sanctions against non-US entities that purchase or transport PDVSA oil. Trump threatened “secondary tariffs” in March against countries that buy Venezuelan crude, but these tariffs were never enacted — and could not be levied against China without disrupting the current trade deal.
Most importantly, Thousand Sunny and Xing Ye do not fly a false flag, or have a flag state like Panama that will acquiesce to a US boarding in international waters.
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