U.S. forces on Saturday apprehended a second oil tanker in less than two weeks, following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a blockade on sanctioned vessels.
The predawn operation comes days after Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers from entering and leaving Venezuela and follows the Dec. 10 seizure by U.S. forces of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
Secretary Kristi Noem of the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the U.S. Coast Guard with other U.S. military support stopped the oil tanker, which was last docked in Venezuela. She also posted on social media an unclassified video of a U.S helicopter landing on the deck of the ship ahead of the seizure.
“In a pre-dawn action early this morning on Dec. 20, the US Coast Guard with the support of the Department of War apprehended an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela,” she wrote in the post.
Noem also praised the service members involved in the operation, thanking the “brave men and women” of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of War for carrying out the interdiction.
“The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region. We will find you, and we will stop you. Thank you to our brave men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard and Department of War,” Noem said.
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth later hailed the seizure.
“President Trump has been clear: the blockade of sanctioned oil tankers departing from, or bound for, Venezuela will remain in full force until Maduro’s criminal enterprise returns every stolen American asset,” he wrote in a post on X.
“The Department of War, with our partners at USCG, will unflinchingly conduct maritime interdiction operations – through OPERATION SOUTHERN SPEAR – to dismantle illicit criminal networks. Violence, drugs, and chaos will not control the Western Hemisphere.”
After the first oil tanker was seized on Dec. 10, the Venezuela government described the action as “an act of piracy.”
During the reading of the statement issued by the Ministry of the Popular Power for Interior, Justice and Peace, it was emphasized that the true reason for this move is the White House intention to seize Venezuelan resources.
The Venezuelan government claimed the seizure reveals “the true reasons” for the Trump Administration’s recent escalating military actions towards Venezuela.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello Rondón described it as an attempt to “conceal the failure” to “achieve regime change in Venezuela through violent actions, with the complicity of various Western leaders.”
The first tanker seizure occurred on Dec. 10, with video released by Attorney General Pamela Bondi showing U.S. helicopters hovering over the ship and service members climbing down ropes to board.
Bondi took to X to share details of the seizure, writing, “the oil tanker has been sanctioned for multiple years by the United States due to its “involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.”
“This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely – and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues,” Bondi concluded.
Recent intelligence shows a sharp increase in sanctioned and high-risk tanker presence in the Caribbean, with area visits up nearly 95% year-on-year.
According to Maritime AI™ company Windward, more than one hundred vessels linked to Iran, Venezuela, or Russia have operated in the region in the past month alone.
A significant share are sanctioned, falsely flagged, or classified as high risk based on behavior and ownership indicators.
