On December 10, 2025, the United States dramatically escalated its pressure campaign against the Venezuelan government by seizing a sanctioned oil tanker off the country’s coast. The operation, carried out by U.S. forces with support from the Navy and Coast Guard, has sent shockwaves through diplomatic, economic, and political circles, with both sides trading accusations of piracy and aggression. The move comes amid a broader U.S. military build-up in the Caribbean and ongoing efforts to isolate President Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced, “We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually.” He later added, “It was seized for a very good reason.” When pressed about the fate of the oil aboard the ship, Trump replied, “Well, we keep it, I guess... I assume we’re going to keep the oil.” According to the Associated Press, Trump declined to elaborate further on the ownership or the ultimate disposition of the seized cargo.
The vessel in question, identified as the Skipper (formerly known as the M/T Adisa), has a long and complicated history. U.S. officials told CBS and BBC that the Skipper had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2022 for its alleged role in an illicit oil shipping network benefitting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah. The ship’s activities had been under scrutiny for years, with maritime risk analysts at Vanguard Tech noting that the Skipper was likely “spoofing” its position—broadcasting false locations—to evade detection. The Guyana Maritime Administration Department confirmed that the Skipper was “falsely flying the Guyana flag as it is not registered in Guyana.”
The seizure itself was a highly coordinated and visually striking operation. According to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, the mission involved two helicopters, 10 Coast Guard members, 10 Marines, and special forces, all launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford—the world’s largest aircraft carrier, which had arrived in the Caribbean in November as a show of force. Video footage released by the Department of Justice and widely circulated on social media shows armed soldiers fast-roping from helicopters onto the tanker’s deck and moving through the superstructure with weapons drawn. Bondi stated, “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 Skipper had departed Venezuela around December 2, 2025, carrying approximately 2 million barrels of heavy crude oil. Documents from Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), the state-owned oil company, indicate that roughly half of this cargo was owned by a Cuban state-run oil importer. The ship’s port-of-call log revealed previous stops in Iran, Iraq, and the UAE earlier in the year, and tracking data showed it had recently been near Guyana—though experts caution that much of this data could be unreliable due to the vessel’s spoofing activities.
The U.S. operation did not encounter resistance from the crew, and officials confirmed there were no casualties. However, the political fallout was immediate and fierce. Venezuela’s government issued a strongly worded statement, denouncing the seizure as a “blatant theft and an act of international piracy.” The statement continued, “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.” Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello went further, calling the U.S. “murderers, thieves, pirates,” and likened the Americans to “high seas criminals, buccaneers.”
President Nicolás Maduro, addressing supporters at a rally in Caracas on the day of the seizure, did not directly mention the incident but delivered a message aimed at Americans opposed to war with Venezuela. Quoting the 1988 hit song, he sang, “To American citizens who are against the war, I respond with a very famous song: Don’t worry, be happy. Not war, be happy. Not, not crazy war, not, be happy.” Later, Maduro warned, “the country is prepared to break the teeth of the North American empire if necessary.”
The Trump administration has justified its increasing military presence in the region as part of a campaign to interdict drug smuggling and target networks supporting terrorism. Since September 2025, U.S. forces have conducted at least 22 strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, resulting in the deaths of at least 87 people, according to the Associated Press and BBC. Some of these strikes have sparked controversy, with lawmakers and legal experts questioning the legality and proportionality of the use of deadly force. Senator Chris Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was particularly critical, stating, “This shows that their whole cover story — that this is about interdicting drugs — is a big lie. This is just one more piece of evidence that this is really about regime change — by force.”
The operation has also had immediate economic repercussions. According to BBC, Brent crude prices inched higher on the day of the seizure as traders reacted to potential supply disruptions. Analysts warn that the U.S. action could deter other shippers from approaching Venezuelan ports, further isolating the country’s oil industry—a sector already battered by years of sanctions and diplomatic isolation. Naval historian Vincent P. O’Hara described the seizure as “very unusual” and “provocative,” noting, “If you have no maritime traffic or access to that, then you have no economy.”
Internationally, the seizure has drawn condemnation from Venezuela’s allies. The Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Maduro, reaffirming Moscow’s support for Venezuela “in the face of growing external pressure.” Meanwhile, Iran and other sanctioned states have long assisted Venezuela in bypassing restrictions by employing complex networks of intermediaries, shell companies, and so-called “ghost tankers” that transfer oil mid-ocean to avoid detection.
Back in Washington, the Trump administration faces mounting scrutiny from Congress over both the legality and the strategic wisdom of its actions. Lawmakers have demanded unedited video of recent strikes, but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told congressional leaders he was still weighing whether to release the footage. The Coast Guard referred all requests for comment about the tanker seizure to the White House.
As tensions continue to mount, the seizure of the Skipper marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing struggle between Washington and Caracas. With both sides digging in, the region faces an uncertain and potentially volatile future.
