US forces have seized another tanker in the Caribbean Sea, officials said, as Washington continues its efforts to control exports of Venezuelan oil.
“Once again, our joint interagency forces sent a clear message this morning: ‘there is no safe haven for criminals,'” US Southern Command said on X.
The X post on Friday morning said that Marines and sailors in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security “apprehended” the Olina oil tanker.
Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said the Olina was “another ‘ghost fleet’ tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil” and was seized after it “departed Venezuela attempting to evade US forces”.
Noem posted a video online appearing to show troops dropping onto a ship from a helicopter. The tanker, the Olina, is on multiple countries’ sanctions lists.
It is the fifth vessel seized by the US in recent weeks.
Maritime risk company Vanguard Tech said the vessel was attempting to break through the US naval blockade in the Caribbean.
It added that the vessel’s location tracker was last active 52 days ago, northeast of Curacao, and that “the seizure follows a prolonged pursuit of tankers linked to sanctioned Venezuelan oil shipments in the region”.
