Amid escalating tensions, Trump says US has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela

Washington: President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions mount with the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

Using US forces to take control of a merchant ship is incredibly unusual and marks the Trump administration's latest push to increase pressure on Maduro, who has been charged with narco-terrorism in the United States. The has built up the largest military presence in the region in decades and launched a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. The campaign is facing growing scrutiny from Congress.

"We've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela -- a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually," Trump told reporters at the White House, later adding that "it was seized for a very good reason."

Trump did not offer additional details. When asked what would happen to the oil aboard the tanker, Trump said, "Well, we keep it, I guess."

The seizure was led by the US Coast Guard and supported by the Navy, according to a US official who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official added that it was conducted under US law enforcement authority.

Storming the oil tanker

The Coast Guard members were taken to the oil tanker by helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, the official said. Ford is in the Caribbean Sea after arriving last month in a major show of force, joining a fleet of other warships.

Video posted to social media by Attorney General Pam Bondi shows people fast-roping from one of the helicopters involved in the operation as it hovers just feet from the deck.

The Coast Guard members can be seen later in the video moving throughout the superstructure of the ship with their weapons drawn.

Bondi wrote that "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."

Venezuela's government said in a statement that the seizure "constitutes a blatant theft and an act of international piracy."

"Under these circumstances, the true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed. … It has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people," the statement said.

Half of ship's oil is tied to Cuban importer

The US official identified the seized tanker as the Skipper.

The ship departed Venezuela around December 2 with about 2 million barrels of heavy crude, roughly half of it belonging to a Cuban state-run oil importer, according to documents from the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela SA, commonly known as PDVSA, that were provided on the condition of anonymity because the person did not have permission to share them.

The Skipper was previously known as the M/T Adisa, according to ship tracking data. The Adisa was sanctioned by the US in 2022 over accusations of belonging to a sophisticated network of shadow tankers that smuggled crude oil on behalf of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group.

The network was reportedly run by a Switzerland-based Ukrainian oil trader, the US Treasury Department said at the time.

Hitting Venezuela's sanctioned oil business

Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves and produces about 1 million barrels a day.

PDVSA is the backbone of the country's economy. Its reliance on intermediaries increased in 2020, when the first Trump administration expanded its maximum-pressure campaign on Venezuela with sanctions that threaten to lock out of the US economy any individual or company that does business with Maduro's government. Longtime allies Russia and Iran, both also sanctioned, have helped Venezuela skirt restrictions.

The transactions usually involve a complex network of shadowy intermediaries. Many are shell companies, registered in jurisdictions known for secrecy. The buyers deploy so-called ghost tankers that hide their location and hand off their valuable cargoes in the middle of the ocean before they reach their final destination.

Maduro did not address the seizure during a speech before a ruling-party organised demonstration in Caracas, Venezuela's capital. But he told supporters that the country is "prepared to break the teeth of the North American empire if necessary."

Maduro has insisted the real purpose of the US military operations is to force him from office.

Democrat says the move is about regime change

Sen Chris Van Hollen, D-Md, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the US seizing the oil tanker cast doubt on the administration's stated reasons for the military buildup and boat strikes.

"This shows that their whole cover story -- that this is about interdicting drugs -- is a big lie," the senator said. "This is just one more piece of evidence that this is really about regime change by force."

The seizure comes a day after the US military flew a pair of fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela in what appeared to be the closest that warplanes had come to the South American country's airspace. Trump has said land attacks are coming soon but has not offered more details. (AP)