U.S. Captures Oil Tanker Off Venezuela Coast
“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.”
The U.S. seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as it traveled to Cuba.
“As you probably know, we’ve just seized a tanker on the coasts of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually, and other things are happening, so you’ll be seeing that later, and you’ll be talking about that later with some other people,” President Donald Trump said at the White House.
President Trump: “As you probably know, we just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela — a large tanker, very large.” pic.twitter.com/I51NenxoIP
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 10, 2025
One reporter asked Trump what would happen to all the oil.
“We keep it, I guess,” responded Trump.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the FBI, DHS, and the Coast Guard, with help from the Defense Department, executed the search warrant:
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 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.
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 U.S. placed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil company years ago. From Axios:
Zoom in: The U.S. has sanctioned Venezuela’s oil company for years, but this vessel was seized because it was on the U.S. Treasury Department’s “Specially Designated Nationals” list for allegedly violating other sanctions, providing the justification for it to be seized.
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The vessel is known as a VLCC, or Very Large Crude Carrier, capable of transporting as much as 320,000 deadweight tons of crude, two sources with direct knowledge said.
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The exact details of the seizure, first reported by Bloomberg, are unclear and administration officials could not be reached for comment.
The move will likely heighten the tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela.
Trump has been targeting Venezuela through strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean over international waters.
This one seizure could lead to more trouble for Venezuela. From The Wall Street Journal:
One of the officials said the move was a warning to other tankers waiting to dock and load up Venezuelan crude. Maritime tracking data show around a dozen off the Venezuelan coast, but the official said others have their Automatic Identification System turned off to avoid detection.
The U.S. has sanctions in place that prohibit companies from trading Venezuelan oil, though it has given exemptions to some companies, including Chevron, which this summer received a narrowed license to operate in the country. Trump has warned that he will level hefty tariffs on countries that buy oil from Caracas.
Asked about the seizure at the White House, Trump joked that journalists should follow the tanker with a helicopter and said he assumed the U.S. would keep the oil. He also said that information about the ship’s owner would be forthcoming.
Brokers in Singapore told The Wall Street Journal that a tanker called the Skipper was the vessel seized off Venezuela early Wednesday. The tanker, formerly called the Adisa, had been sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control for carrying Iranian crude.
Then there’s Cuba, the home of the oil on the tanker.
As Marc Caputo at Axios pointed out, Cuba is an ally of Venezuela and a U.S. adversary.
The system in place is corrupt because of course:
Havana sells Venezuelan crude on the black market, chiefly to Asian markets that ultimately feed China.
- The crude oil is handled by a grandson of Raul Castro, the former leader of Cuba and brother of longtime dictator Fidel Castro, the insiders say.
- In addition to splitting the profits with Venezuela, Cuba supplies intelligence services and agents who protect Maduro.
- “This is a twofer: we’re going after Maduro’s bank account and the Cubans that keep him in power,” one of the sources said.
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Comments
Well, we’ve tried everything else. We may as well take a shot at piracy.
We’ve got Somalians! Let’s put them to work pirating tankers!
Please don’t tell me you expect Somalis to actually earn their way!
Well no but they do have the skill set.
Mohamed Farah Aidid (pointing to his eyes): “Look at me. I’m the captain now.”
The tanker was called Skipper, eh? Let the Gilligan’s Island jokes flow like a mighty river.
I doubt Mary Ann was on that ship… 😁
Ginger
Always Ginger.
Sorry MaryAnn
Never Ginger, Too high maintenance,
Doesn’t matter, it was only a two hour tour.
No. Anything, but that!
You can tow it to my house and park it in my driveway for 1/4 of the oil 🛢
This is not about an oil tanker.
This is going to force insurers to require war and seizure clauses on these tankers when they load oil in Venezuela. That is going to force PDVSA to sell oil at even more of a discount, and they already sell a lot less oil than they used to.
This is going to force Cuba to its knees — electricity there is already at 2 to 4 hours a day. There is virtually no gasoline for civilians. Industries and schools are closed for lack of power. Cuba’s communists will have to be more brutal to survive.
This is going to force China to look elsewhere for oil. China already has issues with that, and this isn’t going to help. Western hemisphere and African countries will see that when the chips are down, China is helpless to intervene. For all the (correct) talk about US problems in the Pacific, China is the one that is vulnerable on the world stage. China’s world-grasping foreign policy is in for a rough patch.
This is going to force Maduro to explain to his henchmen why he should continue to lead the Bolivarian revolution. They don’t care about their people, just like Cuban leaders, but the loss of income is going to leave some henchmen on the outs. Some of them are going to start wondering if perhaps they should wear the sacred sash of office.
This is not about an oil tanker. This is a demonstration of what’s coming, and soon.
This is where China’s investment in Western politicians and leftist “charities” will come through for them.
Secondly, they will just buy their oil from Russia, although that will probably put them in competition with Europe for that resource.
Thirdly, you would think that given the size of China the would have developed their own. Internal oil exploration and exploitation programmes right? 🤔
What could be more Trump than “A large tanker, very large=–the largest that’s ever been seized?
Very confusing. Did Cuba pump the oil, or was it Venezuelan oil that Cuba owned? It’s not clear why a boat full of Cuban crude would be docking at Venezuela, a crude exporting country.
I would like some clarification. How many years has this ship been “sanctioned” and why wasn’t this done long ago?
Probably years but the difference now is an American leader prepared to be an adult.
I suppose they could pour the oil off Cuban beaches, This would harm Cuban tourism from Canada and other progressive countries while enraging the greens. A double win.
Maybe I am just really dense this evening, but…why are we telling other countries who they can trade with, and seizing a country’s oil shipment in waters we don’t own?
Start with Fentanyl trafficking between China, Venezuela and the US.
Because we can.
Maybe?
Because the ship was under international sanction and was caught on the open sea. Admiralty law applies.
Because we can? It’s permitted by US law, and that’s the only law that matters, in the end.
In admiralty, a ship engaged in illegal activities may be seized, but the crew is usually not charged. The cargo is usually held, pending the cargo owner’s appeal of the seizure – he must show (in admiralty, innocence must be proven, there’s no presumption of innocence) that the cargo wasn’t involved in the illegal acts of the ship. (Yes, the “illegal acts of the ship.” In admiralty, the ship is given “personalty” and charged with crimes. This is the give-away that our land-based “civil forfeiture” laws are an exercise of admiralty law on the land, because inanimate objects – boats, cars, houses, aircraft, etc. – are named as defendants. You can confirm this by googling a string like “U.S. v aircraft” or “U.S. v Mercedes Benz”.)
Confirming that my use of the term “personalty” was correct (I gained what little knowledge I have about admiralty law decades ago), I found this from Google AI:
In admiralty law, “personalty” refers to the unique concept of personification, where a ship is treated as a legal entity (a “person”) with its own rights and liabilities separate from its owner, forming the basis for in rem (against the thing) lawsuits where the vessel itself can be sued and arrested, though modern interpretations often blend this with in personam (against the person) claims, especially when the owner appears, to ensure accountability for injuries, cargo issues, and other maritime disputes.
Key Aspects of Personalty (Personification)
The Ship as Defendant: The core idea is that the vessel (the ship) is the actual wrongdoer, not just the owner, allowing actions against the ship itself for things like cargo damage or collisions, even if the owner wasn’t directly involved.
In Rem Actions: This doctrine underpins in rem actions, where a maritime lien (a claim against the vessel) allows the property (the ship) to be seized (arrested) to satisfy the claim.
Ratification: A ship is deemed to have ratified actions like bills of lading, making it liable even if the owner didn’t sign.
I have done some admiralty law. A couple of diesel mechanic clients were not paid. It was surprising how quickly the boat owners paid my clients after I wrote them, saying we were going to have the US Marshals arrest your boat and sell it to pay my clients.
I also had a client have one million pounds of garbanzo beans arrested in Florida. That client also had a ship transporting their beans arrested in Algeria. That made the front page of the Lloyd’s of London Newspaper.
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