The U.S. has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (10 December), a move that sent oil prices higher and sharply escalated tensions between Washington and Caracas.
"We've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening," said Trump, who has been pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down.
Asked what would happen with the oil, Trump said, "We keep it, I guess."
In response, the Venezuelan government in a statement accused the U.S. of "blatant theft" and described the seizure as "an act of international piracy".
The seizure is the first of a Venezuelan oil cargo during U.S. sanctions that have been in force since 2019. It is also the Trump administration's first known action against a Venezuela-related tanker since he ordered a massive military buildup in the region.
The U.S. has already carried out several strikes against suspected drug vessels, which has raised concerns among lawmakers and legal experts.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X that the FBI, Homeland Security and Coast Guard, along with support from the U.S. military, carried out a seizure warrant for a crude tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
A 45-second video posted by Bondi showed two helicopters approaching a vessel and armed individuals in camouflage rappelling onto it.
Trump administration officials did not name the vessel or disclose its location at the time of the seizure.
British maritime risk management group Vanguard said the very large crude carrier (VLCC) Skipper was believed to have been seized off Venezuela early on Wednesday.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on the tanker for what it says was involvement in Iranian oil trading when the vessel was called the Adisa.
The Skipper left Venezuela's main oil port of Jose between 4- 5 December after loading some 1.8 million barrels of Venezuela's Merey heavy crude.
It transferred about 200,000 barrels near Curacao to the Panama-flagged Neptune 6 bound for Cuba before the seizure, according to satellite information analysed by TankerTrackers.com.
Guyana's maritime authority said Skipper was falsely flying the country's flag. The vessel had transported Venezuelan oil to Asia between 2021 and 2022, the PDVSA data showed.
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Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
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