December 12, 2025 - A single vessel will often make separate runs on behalf of Iran, Venezuela and Russia, the sources added. The seizure of the tanker, carrying the name Skipper, caused at least one shipper to temporarily suspend the voyages of three freshly loaded shipments totaling almost 6 million barrels of Venezuela's flagship export grade, Merey, sources said.

3 days ago - According to Reuters, citing shipping documents from state company PDVSA and monitoring service tankertrackers.com, it departed empty from Venezuelan waters in early January, but had not returned to Venezuela as other ships have in recent days. It is the sixth known boarding and seizure by the US military of a foreign-flagged oil tanker in support of Trump’s clamping down on the Venezuelan oil industry since the capture of Maduro and his subsequent removal to the US earlier this month, an operation including air strikes on Caracas that Venezuelan officials say killed more than 100 military personnel and civilians.

December 11, 2025 - Bondi, who leads the US Department of Justice, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the US Coast Guard co-ordinated the seizure. "For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations," the nation's top prosecutor wrote on X.

3 weeks ago - The agency did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday. Along with the strikes, the U.S. has sent warships, built up military forces in the region and seized two oil tankers before its current pursuit of Bella 1.

1 month ago - Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed the oil tanker Skipper - the first vessel seized by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela - is now off the coast of Texas.

1 month ago - The larger tanker, known as the Skipper, was seized on Dec. 10 amid escalating tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

1 month ago - Oil ship seized by the U.S. over Venezuela sanctions was newly registered under Russian flag

1 month ago - The Skipper, a very large crude carrier and the first Venezuela-related vessel seized by the U.S. on December 10, reached the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area near Houston on Sunday.

2 days ago - The carrier is currently at the center of the Trump administration's flotilla of Navy ships in the Caribbean. Since the raid that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the carrier continues to work with the Coast Guard as the U.S. interdicts oil tankers tied to Venezuela.

1 month ago - The US has seized an oil tanker that had recently departed from Venezuela, according to the US Department of Homeland Security. It is the second time this month that an oil-carrying ship has been seized off the country's coast.

2 weeks ago - The U.S. seized the vessel, formerly known as Bella 1 and now known as the Marinera, on Tuesday, just days after President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

1 week ago - The US Coast Guard had attempted but ultimately failed to intercept the Bella 1 as it sailed toward Venezuela to pick up oil before the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro. It then turned around to escape seizure by US forces.

2 weeks ago - The U.S. seized two oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela last month as part of its blockade of sanctioned oil shipments to and from the country.

December 11, 2025 - Image: The oil tanker was identified as a ship called Skipper. Pic: X / @AGPamBondi ... "We've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually," he said at the White House on Wednesday.

December 11, 2025 - The U.S. has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said, a move that sent oil prices higher and sharply escalated tensions between Washington and Caracas.

December 11, 2025 - A satellite image shows the very large crude carrier (VLCC) Skipper, which British maritime risk management group Vanguard said was believed to have been seized on December 10, as well as another vessel, off Port Jose, Venezuela, November 18, 2025.

December 11, 2025 - HOUSTON/LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - More than 30 U.S.-sanctioned oil vessels doing business in Venezuela could face punishment by Washington after the Coast Guard seized a supertanker carrying Venezuelan crude for export, according to shipping data.