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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Venezuela Holds U.S. Vessel And Crew On Suspicion Of Arms Trafficking |
| 2012-09-07 |
| The Venezuelan government has seized a U.S. flagged ship and detained its captain for more than a week. Since August 29 the ship Ocean Atlas has been at port in Maracaibo, Venezuela, where it docked to unload a cargo of equipment. Yet after four hours in port, the ship was boarded and searched by armed security personel, and the captain was detained on suspicion of trafficking in arms or drugs. The rest of the crew of 15 Americans has remained on board under guard. According to a well-placed source arrest warrants have been issued for all of the crewmembers, who are to be taken off the ship for questioning. Incredibly, my Forbes colleague Jeff Bercovici has been in touch over email with one of the crewmen, Russell Macomber, who has managed to post updates to his Facebook account while under detention. In a sardonic tone, Macomber even relayed that when Venezuelan authorities raided the Ocean Atlas they stole cartons of cigarettes, ate the crew’s ice cream and let their dogs defecate on the deck. Macomber writes that he would like nothing more than an airdrop of Budweiser. Officials at the ship’s operator, Intermarine, did not immediately respond to Forbes’ requests for information. Nor did officials at American Maritime Officers, which is believed to have provided the crew for the ship. A spokeswoman at the Venezuelan embassy in Washington said she would look into the incident. A spokesman for the Seafarers Union confirmed the seizure to Forbes and said, “The SIU is working feverishly to help resolve this situation and to ensure the safety of all mariners aboard the Ocean Atlas. We are staying in touch with the crew and will continue doing so.” A U.S. Embassy official in Caracas also confirmed the incident to Reuters earlier today. The seizure of the ship could become an international incident if not resolved soon. A month ago Venezuela detained a U.S. citizen entering from Colombia. President Hugo Chavez accused the man of being a mercenary and part of an “imperial” plot to oust him. So far there has been no public comment from Chavez about the Ocean Atlas detention. The 12-year-old Ocean Atlas is one of a very small number of U.S.-flagged heavy-lift vessels. Its cranes can lift 400 tons and its giant holds are ideal for hauling hauls boats, generators, and oilfield equipment. It often moves cargoes under contract with the U.S. government or for projects financed by the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which requires U.S. flagged ships to carry any cargoes it has financed. A decade ago the ship carried oilfield equipment to Iraq. And according to a backgrounder on Globalsecurity.org, it also made a special trip to Libya: The Department of State requested that the vessel be quietly diverted to Libya, where under special security cover, the vessel was loaded in its entirety with equipment from Libya’s nuclear and other WMD programs arsenal. They included specialized centrifuges used in the processing of uranium to weapons grade, equipment from a uranium conversion facility, and Libya’s five SCUD-C long-range missiles. The cargo was discharged at an undisclosed U.S. East Coast port. The Libyan cargo move was truly a spur-of-the-moment operation. The ship became the first U.S. vessel to dock in Libya in 20 years. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #15 And if Obama responds, maybe it'll help Obama as well, right? |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2012-09-07 17:45 |
| #14 Hugo has an election in October. Tweaking the Empire a bit always plays well. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2012-09-07 17:02 |
| #13 "...mopery and dopery on the High Seas, conspiracy to lurk with intent to gawk..." |
| Posted by: mojo 2012-09-07 15:52 |
| #12 Can you IMAGINE if you're an Iranian agent assigned to Venezuela? You can get real slices of fresh oranges in your mixed drinks. And you only have to hatch brazen plots (like this one) once every couple of months. What a DEAL!!! |
| Posted by: Raider 2012-09-07 15:09 |
| #11 You'd have to hit him where it hurts -- buildings owned or populated by Iranians. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2012-09-07 13:07 |
| #10 If Bambi had a spine, this would already be over and Che-wanna-be Hugo would be out 9 palaces/government buildings. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division 2012-09-07 13:05 |
| #9 Intermarine is running a pretty damned big operation for a cover Note their specialization in heavy lift for things like oil equipment, consider Oogo's oil industry mess and then view this through the extortion lens. |
| Posted by: lotp 2012-09-07 12:44 |
| #8 Holy shades of Clive Cussler and NUMA, Batman! An American flagged heavy hauler for 'dark' (not black) operations. the shipÂ’s operator, Intermarine officials at American Maritime Officers These bear some deeper scrutiny. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2012-09-07 12:23 |
| #7 He's baiting Big Satan in order to rally the voters. Probably hoping The Won will reciprocate. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2012-09-07 11:33 |
| #6 The best I can figure ... is that Chavez is looking for a moonlighting job, and has got his eyes on Hollywood. So he's decided to do a sequel on a movie. It's just too bad that he picked "Dumb and Dumber". I mean ... why didn't he just choose a good musical??? |
| Posted by: Raider 2012-09-07 11:00 |
| #5 Well, they get a free ship out of it, and some poor sucker in the US winds up out the cost of a ship. I mean, it's straight economic warfare, while the US still has a president who doesn't think the sort of Americans who work in the oil industry should be able to make a living. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2012-09-07 10:50 |
| #4 is there some reason why Venezuela would stage an international incident ... right now?? |
| Posted by: Raider 2012-09-07 09:50 |
| #3 The amazing thing being, that there are any cargo vessels at all under the American flag these days. |
| Posted by: gromky 2012-09-07 09:41 |
| #2 "Day 9 - America held hostage" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-09-07 09:34 |
| #1 Jimmy Carter V2.0 |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-09-07 09:23 |