The United States continues its pressure campaign against President Nicolás Maduro’s government with a bold move involving the seizure of an oil tanker carrying raw oil that set sail from Venezuela.
The government of Venezuela calls this act “international piracy.”
A video disseminated by the US government shows members of the Coast Guard and special operations forces fast-roping from helicopters with weapons on board and landing on the deck of what it describes as a tanker ship named Skipper.
Iran and Venezuela are alleged by Washington to be involved through an “illicit oil shipping network” that benefits terrorists.
U.S. President Donald Trump made the announcement on Wednesday, terming Skipper as “one of the largest tankers ever seized.” The operation was conducted by U.S. Coast Guard forces with cooperation from the U.S. Navy, FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations.
US authorities have not yet revealed where the seizure took place, but a military source told CBS that it had departed from a Venezuelan harbor very recently. There were no members of the crew seen in the footage.
A Sanctioned ‘Dark Fleet’ Vessel
Vanguard Tech, a global intelligence service with expertise relating to maritime intelligence, describes Skipper as being a “dark fleet” vessel. Skipper had allegedly been misleading tracking on its position for several months before being sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2022 for transporting oil proceeds that supported Hezbollah and IRGC-Quds.
Photographs from satellites identified the tanker as being at Venezuela’s José Terminal in November. It is thought to be carrying as much as 1.8 million barrels of heavy oil, although Reuters sources indicate that it had loaded 200,000 barrels into another tanker before it was confiscated.
The country’s maritime authority eventually confirmed that Skipper was flying a Guyanese flag fraudulently and that it was not registered in Guyana.
United States Says It Will Retain The Oil
The president was asked what would happen to the confiscated oil.
“We keep it, I guess,” he replied. A total of 1.6 million barrels of oil, if confirmed, would make it worth more than $95 million.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil described the operation as “piracy” and President Maduro as saying that “the United States stole the ship and kidnapped its crew.”
“They have brought about a new era – the era of criminal naval piracy in the Caribbean,” he said, pointing to what he considers an attempt by Washington to control Venezuela’s massive oil reserves.
It occurs against a background of a US military buildup across the Caribbean. The Trump administration has sent 15,000 troops and put big military assets like aircraft carriers USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s biggest aircraft carrier, near Venezuelan shores.
According to Washington, these actions are also linked to efforts to reduce drug trafficking and sanctions. Since September alone, more than 20 deadly attacks on vessels allegedly loaded with drugs have been launched by US forces, with more than 80 people killed.
Various Venezuelan groups, among them Cartel de los Soles, have been designated as terrorists by the US.
Yet, legal authorities have argued that no valid reason for boarding a foreign ship at sea has been put forth by the government, outside of traditional drug interdiction efforts.
Ongoing Investigation At the moment, it is yet unclear what the ultimate destination of the tanker will be and what will happen to its crew.
According to reports, US authorities have yet to disclose the next steps that will be taken against the Venezuelan oil sector.