MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US seizes oil tanker off Venezuelan shores

Shippers are expected to be more cautious in the future when loading Venezuelan crude, US authorities hope

The United States seized a large oil tanker in international waters off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday in a high-stakes maritime operation, marking a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against the Bolivarian regime of Nicolás Maduro.

US President Donald Trump confirmed the seizure, calling it “a big tanker, a very big tanker, the biggest ever seized, actually.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi later confirmed the operation, stating that the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and the US Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for the crude oil tanker.

“For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” Bondi wrote on X, where she also shared video footage showing US forces fast-roping from a helicopter onto the vessel's deck.

Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. For multiple… pic.twitter.com/dNr0oAGl5x

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 10, 2025

The seized vessel was identified as the Skipper, formerly known as the Adisa. Satellite imagery analyzed by The New York Times suggests the tanker may have been attempting to conceal its whereabouts by transmitting fake location data.

The ship's transponder reportedly showed it anchored near Guyana and Suriname. However, satellite monitoring detected her off the coast of Venezuela for weeks after being spotted on November 18 at Venezuela's José oil terminal, contradicting the reported position.

The vessel was heavily laden with an estimated 1.9 million barrels of oil, reportedly Venezuelan crude intended for Cuba, and had a history of carrying sanctioned oil from both Venezuela and Iran, according to data from TankerTrackers.com.

The seizure was ordered by a federal judge due to the Skipper's past links to Iranian oil smuggling and was conducted under US law enforcement authority, it was explained.

The Venezuelan government immediately condemned the seizure. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry accused the US of “blatant theft and an act of international piracy.” Venezuela “has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy,” insisted Caracas amid a significant US military deployment in the Caribbean.

Asked about the oil aboard the tanker, Trump replied: “Well, we keep it, I guess.”