Venezuela has moved to seize assets of six shipping companies claiming they have unpaid debt to state oil company PDVSA, Reuters reported , quoting a document it had seen and two unnamed sources. According to the document, originating with Venezuela’s maritime authority INEA, a court had decreed that the six shipping companies had misappropriated funds at the expense of PDVSA without mentioning the exact size of the misappropriation. Reuters notes that private shipping companies operating in Venezuela on behalf of its clients pay the Venezuelan state company fees for using the oil ports, which PDVSA owns, as well as fees for services such as anchorage and tugboats. PDVSA is the focus of a recently announced energy emergency that President Nicolas Maduro blamed on U.S. sanctions. “The sanctions, the blockade – I will not accept any more excuses. I am signing a decree to declare an energy emergency in the […]