This is the moment daring US gun teams rappel from Seahawk helicopters to take control of a Venezuelan oil tanker.
Armed teams, from the US Coastguard and FBI marines, move quickly heading straight for the captain’s nest, where they point their assault rifles and force entry in the surprise operation.
Donald Trump has said the United States will keep the oil seized from the vessel off the coast of Venezuela amid heightened tensions with Caracas.
‘We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening,’ Trump said.
Asked what would happen with the oil, Trump said: ‘We keep it, I guess.’
The seizure could signal intensifying efforts to go after Venezuela’s oil, the country’s main source of revenue.
(Picture: Handout/UPI/Shutterstock)
It is the first known action against an oil tanker since Trump ordered a massive military build-up in the region and carried out strikes against suspected drug vessels, operations that have raised concerns among Democratic lawmakers and legal experts.
Attorney General Pam Bondi releasing the footage of the raid, added: ‘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.’
British maritime risk management group Vanguard said the tanker Skipper was believed to have been seized off Venezuela early on Wednesday.
The Skipper left Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between December 4 and 5 after loading Venezuela’s Merey heavy crude, according to satellite info analyzed by TankerTrackers.com and PDVSA’s internal shipping data.
(Credits: via REUTERS)
British maritime risk management group Vanguard said the tanker Skipper was believed to have been seized off Venezuela early on Wednesday.
The Skipper left Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between December 4 and 5 after loading Venezuela’s Merey heavy crude, according to satellite info analyzed by TankerTrackers.com and PDVSA’s internal shipping data.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday spoke at a march commemorating a military battle, without addressing reports of the tanker’s seizure.
He urged citizens to act like ‘warriors’ and be ready ‘to smash the teeth of the North American empire if necessary’.
Has there been an impact on oil?
Oil prices climbed modestly on Wednesday afternoon but remained below $60 a barrel, suggesting traders are not terribly concerned by the seizure.
Venezuela exported more than 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil last month, but has had to deeply discount its crude in its main buyer, China, due to growing competition with sanctioned oil from Russia and Iran.
‘This is just yet another geopolitical/sanctions headwind hammering spot supply availability,’ Rory Johnston, an analyst with Commodity Context, said.
‘Seizing this tanker further inflames those prompt supply concerns but also doesn’t immediately change the situation fundamentally because these barrels were already going to be floating around for a while.’
Chevron, which partners with state oil company PDVSA, said on Wednesday that its operations in the country are normal and continuing without disruption.
Pressure on Maduro but who is next in Trump’s sights?
Maduro has alleged that the US military build-up is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the OPEC nation’s vast oil reserves.
Since early September, the Trump administration has carried out more than 20 strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing more than 80 people.
Experts say the strikes may be illegal, since there has been little or no proof made public that the boats are carrying drugs or that it was necessary to blow them out of the water rather than stop them, seize their cargo and question those on board.
Concerns about the strikes increased this month after reports that the commander overseeing the operation ordered a second strike that killed two survivors.
Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of US military intervention in Venezuela. In a sweeping strategy document published last week, Trump said his administration’s foreign policy focus would be on reasserting its dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
As Washington ratchets up pressure on Venezuela, President Trump issued another threat to neighbouring Colombia and its president, Gustavo Petro. ‘He better wise up or he’ll be next,’ Trump told reporters.
‘I hope he’s listening: He’s going to be next.’ He accused Colombia of producing cocaine.
Petro has denied his government’s involvement in the drug trade and has harshly criticised the boat strikes, calling them a ‘massacre.’
