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`.
678 Articles
678 Articles
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Coast Guard seizes oil tanker off Venezuelan coast in escalation of Trump-Maduro tensions
The U.S. Coast Guard seized an oil tanker off Venezuela‘s coast early Saturday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced. “In a pre-dawn action early this morning on Dec. 20, the US Coast Guard with the support of the Department of War apprehended an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela,” Noem said in a statement on X. “The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco te…
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…
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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 […]
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