Overview
- President Donald Trump said the United States seized a very large crude carrier off Venezuela and intends to keep its cargo, without naming the ship or its destination.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi said the vessel was transporting oil subject to U.S. sanctions from Venezuela and Iran, and released a video of armed personnel boarding from a helicopter.
- Bondi said the FBI executed the seizure with Defense Department support, and she described the operation as safe off Venezuela’s coast.
- MarineTraffic identified the tanker as the Skipper, a VLCC previously named Adisa and sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2022, reportedly carrying about 1.1 million barrels and headed to Cuba according to the Washington Post.
- Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry condemned the action as “shameless theft” and international piracy, while analysts and an EU trade envoy warned the seizure could further deter buyers of Venezuelan crude.