US Flagged Ship Seized in Venezuela, Captain Arrested

It is not every day when an American ship is seized, the cargo is unloaded, the Captain is jailed, and the crew is being told to prepare to be interrogated, but these events are apparently unfolding in Venezuela. This is the Forbes report that helped bring attention to the issue.

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 captain has been identified as Jeffrey Michael Raider, 45, of Texas.

The story was then updated over at Maritime Executive.

Some crewmembers are now speaking out anonymously. They have confirmed that Venezuelan authorities have detained the captain of the U.S.-flagged Ocean Atlas and are accusing him of arms trafficking.

The ship had been detained for nine days and the captain had been taken from the ship Wednesday night. Arrest warrants were issued for the entire crew, who would have to give depositions today - two at a time and accompanied by a U.S. consular representative. They will then be escorted back to the cargo ship.

The incident was described by crewmen in a CNN report as follows:

A few hours after the ship arrived at the Maracaibo port, it was boarded by Interpol officials, Venezuelan police officers and narcotics investigators who said they had received a tip that the vessel was smuggling drugs. No drugs were discovered, but weapons that the ship's security team keeps in a locker were found.

The captain had reportedly declared the weapons upon arrival in port and received clearance, but the Venezuelan authorities now said the ship didn't have permission to have them on board and confiscated them.The ship was then under investigation for arms trafficking, and earlier this week, the ship had been officially charged.

Shortly after, the captain made a court appearance, followed by 20 to 30 armed soldiers demanding to be let on board. They held the crew at gunpoint before sending them to the mess. They then met with the captain in his office and took him away. The captain hasn't returned to the ship, but has talked on the phone to the chief mate.

Many have been told that the captain has been charged with arms trafficking. The captain was detained after he refused to let authorities arrest the crew.

This Forbes article has additional details on the use of Facebook by the crew, specifically Russell Macomber's Facebook page (very likable guy IMO). It is through Facebook and emails with the crew that most of the information is being put into the public, as both governments have been silent on the incident.

CNN has the latest here, although events are unfolding fairly quickly so this may be old news by the time you read it.

The crew of a detained U.S.-flagged ship was informed Friday that their scheduled depositions to Venezuelan investigators in connection with an arms trafficking accusation were postponed to Monday.

The crew had expected to give the depositions on Friday, said a crew member on the ship who asked to remain anonymous because of security concerns.

Venezuelan authorities have detained the captain of the shipping vessel, Ocean Atlas, since Wednesday. The skipper is supposed to return to the cargo vessel on Saturday, crew members said.

As of Friday night in Venezuela, prosecutors had yet to make a decision on the case, according to a manager of the ship's customs brokers. The manager asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation.

The captain and 13 crew members are all expected to give statements to investigators, the manager said.

The crew is detained on the ship, and authorities are holding the captain elsewhere.

The rest of the report is very informative and has additional information, including a quote by a crewmember via email who makes clear no one on the ship has been threatened with physical injury, harm, or death. The ship had all of it's cargo removed from the vessel to be searched, and ultimately the three rifles used for anti-piracy are the only weapons found on the vessel. No evidence of narcotics was found.

It is pretty obvious that Venezuela is treading on thin ice legally here, but it is not clear that this incident is an example of the usual political stunt one would expect from Hugo Chavez. Unlike a lot of nonsense we hear from Chavez, he has not said a word about this incident. Anti-Americanism is strong in Venezuela, so a tip of narcotics or arms regarding a US flagged ship would be seen by some in government law enforcement there as within expectations of the bad Americans.

But lets not dismiss some fairly serious issues here that US officials need to explain. The ship has been held since August 29th, which means we have had a ship seized for 10 days now already. The Captain of the Ocean Atlas was arrested 7 days later, on September 5th, and has been jailed in Venezuela for at least 2 days without hardly a mention by government, or media. If it wasn't for social media or the Seafarers Union, would we know anything about this incident?

The United States does not have very many US flagged vessels. Nearly all US flagged ships are customers of the US government and carry property of the US government. We do not have an official confirmation regarding the owner of the cargo, but it does raise the question if the cargo is US government owned. In this case, no news report has revealed what the cargo on the ship was, even though several reports claim the crew was forced to unload the cargo.

It is unclear how this will play out, but it is very clear that the charges of arms trafficking are nonsense. Were there rifles on the vessel? Yes, but it is obvious to everyone these are for anti-piracy purposes and the customs broker claims those firearms were declared and it was not deemed a problem. There is no evidence of narcotics on the ship.

This will be interesting to see how it plays out, but unlike the lone retired Marine detained back in August, this type of incident that involves property and people can quickly cascade into a significant diplomatic incident as it gains more media attention.