US EditionU.S. Forces Board Fifth Tanker in Campaign to Track Down Venezuelan Oil
U.S. forces seized the Olina tanker in a pre-dawn Caribbean operation, marking the fifth interdiction targeting Venezuela-linked vessels using deceptive practices, officials said.
- On January 9, 2026, U.S. Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford and boarded the Motor/Tanker Olina in a pre-dawn operation in the Caribbean Sea near Trinidad.
- As Washington seeks to choke off Venezuelan crude, officials have intensified the U.S. blockade on sanctioned tankers to enforce sanctions following the ouster of President Nicolás Maduro.
- U.S. Southern Command said Marines, Sailors, and a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment launched from the Gerald R. Ford and boarded the Olina, with footage showing troops inserted from a helicopter, and declared `Once again, our joint interagency forces sent a clear message this morning: 'there is no safe haven for criminals,'` on Friday.
- A group of U.N. experts said the U.S. lacked authority to enforce unilateral sanctions via armed blockade, while Russia decried the seizure as a `gross violation` of maritime law.
- The Olina was reportedly falsely flying a Timor-Leste flag as part of a 'ghost fleet'; President Donald Trump cited control of 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, while maritime expert Scott Dickerson warned of retaliation risks.
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The United States sends a diplomatic delegation to Venezuela and meanwhile the Coast Guard blocks a fifth ship, the Olina, flying the flag of East Timor. The US pressure on Venezuela and its partners enters an increasingly explicit and muscular phase. In the first hours of Friday, the Coast Guard of the United States has climbed on board a fifth oil tanker suspected of violating the blockade imposed on the ships involved in the transport of oil …
Joint U.S. forces intercepted the oil tanker ‘Olina’ in Caribbean waters on Friday, in a coordinated action between the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Southern Command reported.The operation, which was carried out before dawn, was attended by Marines who departed in helicopters from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to execute the boarding.
US leader Donald Trump said that the US seized the oil tanker Olina in coordination with the Venezuelan interim authorities.
US Oil Piracy Continues as Fifth Tanker Tied to Venezuela Seized
The US seized another oil tanker on Friday as in its blockade of Venezuela, which UN experts have said is illegal and has "undermined the human rights of the Venezuelan people." The US has purloined over $300 million of oil this month from five tankers.
U.S. forces boarded another oil tanker on Friday in the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. Army reported, at a time when President Donald Trump's government continues to target sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela as part of a broader effort to take control of the South American country's oil.
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