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U.S. military forces boarded and took control of a seventh oil tanker connected with Venezuela on Tuesday as the Trump administration continues its efforts to take control of the oil in the South American country.
U.S. Southern Command said in a social media post that U.S. forces apprehended the Motor Vessel Sagitta “without incident” and that the tanker was “operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
The military command did not say whether the U.S. Coast Guard took control of the tanker as has been the case in prior seizures.
Through <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/OpSouthernSpear?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#OpSouthernSpear</a>, the <a href=”https://twitter.com/DeptofWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@DeptofWar</a> is unwavering in its mission to crush illicit activity in the Western Hemisphere in partnership with <a href=”https://twitter.com/USCG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@USCG</a>, <a href=”https://twitter.com/DHSgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@DHSgov</a> and <a href=”https://twitter.com/TheJusticeDept?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@TheJusticeDept</a>.<br><br>This morning, U.S. military forces, in support of the Department of Homeland Security, apprehended… <a href=”https://t.co/UPADtiw681″>pic.twitter.com/UPADtiw681</a>
—Southcom
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to questions for more details.
The Sagitta is a Liberian-flagged tanker and its registration says it is owned and managed by a company in Hong Kong. The ship last transmitted its location more than two months ago when exiting the Baltic Sea in northern Europe.
The tanker was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department under an executive order related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
U.S. President Donald Trump is urging top oil executives to move quickly on developing Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. But few seem eager to jump in with both feet in the days after U.S. forces seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The post from U.S. Southern Command, however, indicated the ship had taken oil from Venezuela. It said the capture of the tanker “demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully.”
The military command posted what appeared to be aerial footage of the Sagitta on the ocean, but unlike in prior videos, the clip did not show U.S. forces flying toward it in helicopters or landing on the deck of the ship.
Venezuela, oil and the U.S.
Trump told reporters just hours before the announcement that the U.S. has taken 50 million barrels of oil out of Venezuela already.
“We’ve got millions of barrels of oil left,” he said at the White House. “We’re selling it on the open market.”
The U.S. forcibly removed Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro from power earlier this month and Trump has said the U.S. will “run” the country for an indeterminate time period.
Delcy Rodríguez, who served as Venezuela’s vice-president under Maduro, has become the country’s interim president in the wake of his ouster.
For months prior to Maduro’s capture, the U.S. had ramped up pressure on Caracas via a military build-up in the region, the seizing of oil tankers, and a series strikes on alleged drug boats off Venezuela’s coast — though U.S. forces have also attacked vessels in the Eastern Pacific.
The U.S. military build-up had raised questions as to whether Washington intended to invade Venezuela.
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