US Seizes an Oil Tanker Belonging to Venezuela

The Trump administration is escalating its fight with Venezuela. On Wednesday, December 10, US helicopters carried armed camouflaged troops to board and seize a Venezuelan oil tanker carrying sanctioned oil. It was the first seizure of its kind by the US in the Caribbean and makes a strong statement to the government of Venezuela that the US sanctions in force since 2019 on Venezuelan oil exports will be enforced. The oil tanker seizure is part of a larger campaign to stop Venezuela from continuing its illicit drug running and forcing a change in President Nicolás Maduro’s government. President Trump wants Maduro gone.

Venezuela Gets a Taste of Real Oil Sanctions

There’s no doubt about the goal of the US-Venezuela standoff.  First, America builds a naval armada in the Caribbean just outside Venezuela’s territorial waters to intimidate the hapless Maduro administration. Then American forces take out individual drug runners in their fast boats to demonstrate the seriousness of US intentions – over 20 drug boats destroyed, and 83 drug runners eliminated. Finally, the US is putting teeth in the 2019 sanctions on Venezuelan oil to curtail transportation to Iran.

Though sanctions have been in place on Venezuelan crude oil for roughly six years, the December 10 seizure was the first time an oil tanker was taken into US custody. The US wants Venezuela out of the deadly drug-running business, out of the human trafficking business, and out of all other international criminal pursuits. During a mid-November phone conversation between President Trump and Maduro, the US leader gave the Venezuelan strongman an opportunity to get out of town. Maduro failed to take the chance to leave.

In an X post, US Attorney General Pamela Bondi provided an unclassified 45-second video of the tanker takedown, and she explained:

“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. This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely—and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues.”

Bondi said that executing the seizure warrant for the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) was a multi-agency effort that included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Coast Guard, and the War Department. According to reporting on the capture of the VLCC, there is quite a bit of information on the tanker. The ship's name is Skipper and was previously sanctioned under the name Adisa. Under the name Adisa, the tanker was sanctioned in 2022, but no action was taken to stop its operations. The Skipper was carrying approximately 1.8 million barrels of Venezuela’s Merey heavy crude and had taken on the crude oil at the primary port of Jose, Venezuela, between December 4 and 5.

CNN reported that the tanker had attempted to hide its location by transmitting a false position via its Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder. While satellite imagery showed the vessel docked at Barcelona, Venezuela, the AIS had the VLCC “560 miles away, off the coast of Georgetown, Guyana.” Furthermore, “The tanker was flying a Guyana flag, despite not being registered in Guyana, the country’s Maritime Administration Department said in a statement posted to Facebook,” CNN reported.

Caracas Officials Not Happy About the Seizure

As one might expect, Venezuelan officials were not happy about the seizure. The BBC reported, “Caracas swiftly denounced the action, calling it an act of ‘international piracy.’ Earlier, President Nicolás Maduro declared that Venezuela would never become an ‘oil colony.’” Well, el Presidente better get used to losing an oil tanker now and then. “The US officials said they expected additional seizures in the coming weeks as part of the administration’s efforts to weaken Mr. Maduro’s government by undermining its oil market,” The New York Times reported.

The Trump national security team is putting the squeeze on Maduro. With the elimination of Caribbean routes to move illicit drugs, Maduro can no longer guarantee the drug cartels' safe passage through Venezuela to the ultimate destination, US communities. Perhaps the fallout of the elimination of drug boats, reducing, possibly stopping, drug money flowing into Maduro’s pockets, and reduced oil revenue, which impacts the average Venezuelan, the financial pressure may prove too strong. The cartels may also start seeing Maduro as a liability and look for alternatives to support their international criminal agenda. One thing is for sure: the US is not likely to let up on its insistence that the Venezuelan leader change his behavior or resign and leave the country. The latter course of action is preferable.

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