US seizes oil tanker off Venezuela as Caracas condemns ‘act of piracy’

US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s pressure campaign against the government of Nicolas Maduro.

Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the tanker was “the largest tanker ever seized.”

Footage released by the US government showed armed soldiers boarding the ship, which Attorney General Pam Bondi said was being used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

Caracas was quick to condemn the act, calling it an act of “international piracy.” Earlier, President Nicolas Maduro announced that Venezuela would never become an “oil colony.”

The Trump administration accuses Venezuela of smuggling drugs into the United States, and has intensified its efforts to isolate President Maduro in recent months.

Venezuela, home to some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, has in turn accused Washington of seeking to steal its resources.

Brent crude prices rose on Wednesday as news of the seizure raised concerns about short-term supplies. Analysts warn that the move could threaten shipping companies and further disrupt Venezuelan oil exports.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Maduro and assured him of Moscow’s support “in the face of increasing external pressure.”

Bondi, who leads the US Justice Department, said the FBI, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the US Coast Guard coordinated the seizure.

“For several years, the United States has imposed sanctions on the oil tanker due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network that supports foreign terrorist organizations,” the country’s attorney general wrote on the X website.

The footage shared by Bondi showed a military helicopter flying over a large ship, and troops lowering onto the deck using ropes. Uniformed men were seen in the clip moving around the ship carrying their rifles.

A senior military official told CBS News, the BBC’s partner, that the helicopters used in the operation were launched from the USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, which was sent to the Caribbean last month.

Two helicopters, 10 Coast Guard members, 10 Marines, and special forces participated in the operation.

A source told CBS that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was aware of the operation, and the Trump administration was considering more actions like this.

When reporters asked him what the United States would do with the oil on the tanker, Trump said: “I think we keep it… and I assume we will keep the oil.”

Marine risk firm Vanguard Tech identified the ship as Skipper and said it believed the ship had been “spoofing” its location — or broadcasting a false location — for a long time.

BBC Verify has since confirmed that the ship shown in the footage released by the Department of Homeland Security is the captain.

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Skipper in 2022, CBS reported, for his alleged involvement in oil smuggling that generated revenue for Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.

BBC Verify also located this tanker on the MarineTraffic website, showing that it was sailing under the Guyana flag when its location was last updated two days ago.

However, a statement issued by the Guyana Department of Maritime Administration on Wednesday evening said the skipper was “wrongly flying the Guyanese flag as it is not registered in Guyana”.

Skipper’s port call log shows she called in Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates from June 30 to July 9 this year. Its last stop, according to MarineTraffic, was at the port of Soroush in Iran on July 9.

That’s not to say it hasn’t connected to several other outlets since then.

MarineTraffic shows it was last near Iran in mid-September before arriving off the coast of Guyana at the end of October and has made no further movements since then. This data may be partial or incorrect due to plagiarism.

MarineTraffic lists the beneficial owner and operator as Nigeria-based Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd, and lists the registered owner as Marshall Islands-based Triton Navigation Corp.

The Venezuelan government issued a statement denouncing the confiscation, describing it as a “serious international crime.”

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello described the United States as “murderers, thieves and pirates.”

He referred to the Pirates of the Caribbean, but said that although the main character in that film, Jack Sparrow, was a “hero,” he believed that “those guys are criminals on the high seas, pirates.”

This is how the United States “ignited wars all over the world,” Cabello said.

Speaking during a rally earlier on Wednesday, Maduro had a message for Americans opposed to war with Venezuela. It came in the form of a hit song in 1988.

“To the American citizens who oppose the war, I respond with a very famous song: Don’t worry, be happy,” Maduro said in Spanish before singing the lyrics of the song released in 1988.

“Not war, be happy. No, not crazy war, no, be happy.”

It is unclear whether Maduro was aware of the seizure of the tanker before this gathering.

In recent days, the United States has strengthened its military presence in the Caribbean Sea, which borders Venezuela to the north.

The crowd includes thousands of soldiers and the USS Gerald Ford is stationed close to Venezuela. BBC reported verification.

This move raised speculation about the possibility of some kind of military action.

Since September, the United States has carried out at least 22 raids on boats in the region that the Trump administration says are drug smuggling. At least 80 people were killed in these attacks.

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