Chinese Tanker May Deserve Sanctions for Ties to Seized Venezuelan Ship, Lawmaker Says

House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., urged the Treasury Department on Dec. 12 to consider sanctioning Chinese-managed oil tanker Luois; its operator, Qingdao Ocean Kimo Ship Management Co. Ltd.; and its owner, Fung Nam Ltd., for their role in sanctions evasion.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Moolenaar cited satellite imagery and vessel-tracking data that seem to indicate that while Luois was in the South China Sea in August, it received sanctioned Iranian oil from Venezuelan tanker Skipper, which the U.S. seized Dec. 10 for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Iran and Venezuela. “Recent activity by the tankers Skipper and Luois reveals a specific Chinese-managed effort that Treasury should now act against,” the lawmaker wrote.

Moolenaar said Treasury should also make clear that it will designate additional Chinese entities that buy sanctioned oil.

China “has become the indispensable customer and operational hub for large-scale sanctions evasion involving Venezuelan crude and Iranian networks,” he wrote. "Treasury’s firm action here would not only close the Skipper-Luois loop but also send a clear signal to Beijing and to [China]-based commercial actors that the United States will treat [Chinese] facilitators of sanctions evasion as central drivers of these networks rather than peripheral participants."

A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment on the letter. "While Treasury does not comment on specific allegations, we take allegations of sanctionable conduct extremely seriously," the spokesperson said.

In October, the Office of Foreign Assets Control unveiled the Trump administration's fourth round of sanctions targeting China-based refineries that continue to buy Iranian oil (see 2510090011).