FILE PHOTO: U.S. forces abseil onto an oil tanker during a raid described by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as its seizure by the United States off the coast of Venezuela, December 10, 2025, in a still image from video. U.S. Attorney General/Handout via REUTERS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. SELECTIVE BLURRING FROM SOURCE./File Photo
The Trump administration has seized another sea vessel off the coast of Venezuela, Reuters reported Saturday.
The seizure, revealed to Reuters by three Trump administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, comes just days after the U.S. military had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela dubbed “Skipper,” an act that Venezuela condemned as an “act of international piracy.”
The Trump administration’s second major sea vessel seizure this month comes amid the administration’s escalating military threats against Venezuela, and just days after President Donald Trump ordered a “blockade” on all sanctioned oil tankers coming from and leaving the South American nation.
The Trump administration has launched a number of deadly strikes on suspected drug-carrying vessels, killing at least 95 people, has illegally closed Venezuela’s airspace, deployed an aircraft carrier strike group to Venezuela’s coast, and suggested U.S. land operations in the South American “very soon.” Trump has also considered assassinating its president, Nicolas Maduro.