Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 07:31pm on 12 Jan 2026,Monday International
Two China-flagged very large crude carriers, Xingye and Thousand Sunny, were headed to Venezuela to pick up crude oil owed to China under a debt-for-oil arrangement, shipping data shows. Both ships had been anchored in the Atlantic for weeks waiting to enter Venezuelan ports. They have now turned back toward Asia amid a strict US oil embargo on Venezuela and ongoing political turmoil after US forces captured President Nicolás Maduro. The change in course underscores the difficulty of moving Venezuelan oil under US sanctions and export controls. The embargo aims to prevent sanctioned vessels from entering or leaving Venezuelan waters. (PC: India Today)
