United States President Donald Trump says the US has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, ratcheting up tensions with the South American country in a move that has also raised oil prices.
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening,” Trump said on Wednesday.
Asked what would happen with the oil, Trump said: “We keep it, I guess.”
The seizure could signal intensifying efforts to go after Venezuela’s oil, the country’s main source of revenue.
It is the first known action against an oil tanker since Trump ordered a massive US military build-up in the region and carried out strikes against suspected drug vessels, killing nearly 90 people since September.
Democratic lawmakers and legal experts are voicing concerns over recent operations that have captured public attention.
US attorney general Pam Bondi posted on X that the FBI, Homeland Security and Coast Guard, along with support from the US military, carried out a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
In a striking 45-second video shared by Bondi, two helicopters can be seen approaching a vessel as armed personnel in camouflage gear descend onto it by rappelling.
Three US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the operation was led by the US Coast Guard. They did not name the tanker, the country whose flag it was flying, or exactly where the interdiction took place.
British maritime risk management group Vanguard said the tanker Skipper was believed to have been seized off Venezuela early on Wednesday. The US imposed sanctions on the tanker because of its alleged involvement in Iranian oil trading when it was called the Adisa.
The tanker, named Skipper, departed Venezuela’s primary oil port of Jose between December 4 and 5. It was loaded with Merey heavy crude, a fact confirmed by satellite data from TankerTrackers.com and shipping records from Venezuela’s state oil and gas company, PDVSA.
Speaking to supporters in Caracas, a prominent figure declared, “We demand an end to the illegal and brutal interventionism of the United States government in Venezuela and Latin America.”
Venezuela’s embattled President Nicolás Maduro demanded an end to US intervention in his country on Wednesday.
“From Venezuela, we ask and demand an end to the illegal and brutal interventionism of the United States government in Venezuela and in Latin America,” he told supporters in Caracas.
Maduro has alleged the US military build-up is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the OPEC nation’s vast oil reserves.
Since early September, the Trump administration has carried out more than 20 strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing nearly 90 people.
Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of US military intervention in Venezuela.
