U.S. forces on Wednesday seized two oil tankers linked to Venezuela in coordinated operations in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean, including one vessel that was traveling under escort from Russian naval ships, according to U.S. officials.
The North Atlantic operation targeted the Marinera, formerly known as the Bella 1, which had been tracked for weeks by the U.S. Coast Guard after departing waters near Venezuela. U.S. European Command said the tanker was taken pursuant to a federal court warrant for sanctions violations. U.S. officials said Russian naval vessels, including a submarine, had been accompanying the tanker in recent days as it attempted to evade interception.
U.S. Southern Command also announced the boarding of a second tanker, the M/T Sophia, in international waters in the Caribbean. The vessel was described as part of a "dark fleet" engaged in illicit oil transport and operating in violation of U.S. restrictions on Venezuelan crude exports. The Coast Guard is escorting the ship to the United States for further legal action, the command said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem released a video of one of the seizures and said the operations were carried out jointly by the Coast Guard, the Department of War, and federal law enforcement agencies. The back-to-back interdictions follow several recent tanker seizures as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on maritime networks used by sanctioned regimes to move oil abroad.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced on Truth Social that Venezuela’s interim authorities will hand over 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil to the United States, saying the crude will be sold at market price and that he, as president, will control the proceeds to "benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States," with Energy Secretary Chris Wright tasked to implement the plan and have the oil shipped directly to U.S. docks.
The moves come just days after a U.S. special forces operation in Venezuela that ended with the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro following months of surveillance tracking his movements. Maduro faces charges including narco-terrorism, weapons offenses, and conspiracy to attack the United States, and Trump said he has not ruled out follow-on strikes against targets inside Venezuela.
