WASHINGTON - The United States has seized the Olina tanker in the Caribbean Sea, marking the fifth ship targeted in recent weeks as Washington intensifies its efforts to curb unauthorized Venezuelan oil exports, U.S. officials said. The operation, involving marines and sailors deployed from the Joint Task Force Southern Spear, was carried out early Friday and the vessel was taken without incident, the U.S. Southern Command announced on social media.
According to shipping records and industry sources, the Olina formerly sailed under the name Minerva M and was sanctioned by the United States for its involvement in transporting embargoed oil. It had previously left Venezuela fully loaded and was returning when it was intercepted, authorities said. Satellite tracking data showed the ship’s automatic identification system had last been active 52 days earlier near Venezuelan waters northeast of Curaçao, before going dark
At the time of the operation, the tanker was flying the flag of Timor-Leste, but public shipping registries list that flag registration as false, a common tactic among so-called “shadow fleet” tankers that operate outside normal maritime oversight. U.S. officials have described these vessels as part of a broader attempt to evade sanctions and transport Venezuelan oil illicitly.
The seizure of the Olina follows a series of interdictions under the Trump administration’s naval campaign, known as Operation Southern Spear, aimed at enforcing a blockade on sanctioned Venezuelan oil shipments. Earlier this month U.S. forces also seized the tanker M Sophia and pursued other vessels tied to similar oil-moving operations. Several tankers turned back toward Venezuelan waters to avoid interception, Pentagon officials said, as the U.S. signal grew clear that “there is no safe haven for criminals.”
U.S. authorities have emphasized that the operations are part of a broader effort to enforce sanctions and disrupt illicit maritime trade, which they say undermines both legal frameworks and regional security. The future course of action regarding other tankers currently sailing toward Venezuelan ports remains unclear, with the United States maintaining its global stance that the blockade applies “anywhere in the world,” continuing to monitor and intervene where necessary.
The seizures have raised geopolitical concerns and highlighted the complexities of enforcing sanctions at sea, particularly as Venezuela’s oil sector remains at the forefront of international economic and political tensions.