US EditionTrump administration seizes oil tanker off Venezuela coast, US officials say
The U.S. Coast Guard led the seizure of the largest sanctioned oil tanker ever near Venezuela to cut off revenue to Nicolás Maduro’s regime, officials said.
- On Dec 10, President Donald Trump announced the United States Coast Guard led the seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela under U.S. law enforcement authority.
- U.S. officials argue the action furthers counterdrug and sanctions aims, framing the seizure as part of a campaign to deprive Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelan President, of oil revenues and enforce sanctions.
- Coast Guard personnel reached the vessel from the USS Gerald R. Ford by helicopter; risk groups identified the seized ship as the Skipper, which left Jose between 4-5 December with about 1.1 million barrels of Merey crude.
- On Dec 11 the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on six crude oil tankers and shipping companies, and the White House plans to seize the oil aboard the vessel, according to Karoline Leavitt.
- Analysts warned the seizure could deter shippers and make it harder for Venezuela to export oil, while the Venezuelan government denounced it as `blatant theft` and an `act of international piracy`.
615 Articles
615 Articles
The Tanker Takeover: How Trump Is Weaponizing the Caribbean
The United States has fully commited to its enforcement of sanctions on Venezuela by seizing a large oil tanker off its coast. President Donald Trump publicly announced the operation on December 10th and authorities said a joint FBI/Homeland Security/Coast Guard team executed a court-ordered seizure of the vessel, which was transporting Iranian and Venezuelan crude […] The post The Tanker Takeover: How Trump Is Weaponizing the Caribbean appeared…
Everything the Trump administration is doing in Venezuela and South America involves oil—even if the White House won’t admit it
The U.S. is weighing its military options in oil-rich Venezuela, influencing elections in other South American petroleum nations, and increasingly trying to control natural resources in the Americas.
Gunboat Diplomacy Reloaded: How the U.S. Stormed the Skipper and Stole Venezuela’s Oil
from 21st Century Wire: What happens when the world’s most powerful military seizes nearly two million barrels of crude oil from a civilian‑flagged tanker in peacetime, just off the coast of a sovereign nation? On December 10, 2025, U.S. forces boarded the Skipper, previously known as Adisa and originally The Toyo, in a dramatic operation that President Donald Trump hailed as […]
“Piracy”: Venezuela responds to the US seizure of its oil tanker : Peoples Dispatch
According to the White House, the ship was transporting sanctioned oil. Caracas denounces the act as an attack on its energy sovereignty and a sign of Washington's true intentions in its recent military deployment in the Caribbean.
Venezuela Condemns US Theft of Oil Tanker as Act of Piracy (+International Reactions)
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuela has condemned the seizure of an oil tanker publicly announced earlier by US President Donald Trump as a “blatant robbery and an act of international piracy.” Trump claimed the operation took place “off the coast” of the South American country. “As you probably know, we just seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “A very big one. In fact, the biggest one ev…
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