‘Act of piracy’ or law: Can the US legally seize a Venezuelan tanker?

United States President Donald Trump has said that the US has seized a sanctioned lipid tanker adjacent to the seashore of Venezuela, successful a determination that has caused lipid prices to spike and further escalates tensions with Caracas.

“We’ve conscionable seized a tanker connected the seashore of Venezuela, ample tanker, precise large, largest 1 ever, actually, and different things are happening,” Trump said connected Wednesday.

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• list 1 of 1US says it seized lipid tanker disconnected Venezuela coast

The Venezuelan authorities called the determination an enactment of “international piracy”, and “blatant theft”.

This comes arsenic the US expands its subject operations successful the region, wherever it has been carrying retired aerial strikes connected astatine slightest 21 suspected drug-trafficking vessels since September. The Trump medication has provided nary grounds that these boats were carrying drugs, however.

Here is what we cognize astir the seizure of the Venezuelan tanker:

What happened?

The US said it intercepted and seized a ample lipid tanker disconnected the seashore of Venezuela, marking the archetypal cognition of its benignant successful years.

The past comparable US subject seizure of a overseas tanker occurred successful 2014, erstwhile US Navy SEALs boarded the Morning Glory disconnected Cyprus arsenic Libyan rebels attempted to merchantability stolen crude oil.

The Trump medication did not place the vas oregon disclose the precise determination of the operation.

However, Bloomberg reported that officials had described the vessel arsenic a “stateless vessel” and said it had been docked successful Venezuela.

Soon aft announcing the latest cognition connected Wednesday, US Attorney General Pam Bondi released a video showing 2 helicopters approaching a vas and equipped unit successful camouflage rappelling onto its deck.

“Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Coast Guard, with enactment from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude lipid tanker utilized to transport sanctioned lipid from Venezuela and Iran,” Bondi said.

She added that “for aggregate years, the lipid tanker has been sanctioned by the United States owed to its engagement successful an illicit oil-shipping web supporting overseas violent organisations”.

Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with enactment from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude lipid tanker utilized to transport sanctioned lipid from Venezuela and Iran. For multiple… pic.twitter.com/dNr0oAGl5x

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 10, 2025

Experts said the method of boarding demonstrated successful the video is modular signifier for US forces.

“The Navy, Coast Guard and peculiar forces each person peculiar grooming for this benignant of mission, called visit, board, search, and seizure – oregon VBSS,” Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and elder advisor astatine the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Al Jazeera.

“It is routine, particularly for the Coast Guard. The authorities said it was a Coast Guard unit doing the seizure, though the chopper looks similar a Navy SH-60S.”

Which vas was seized?

According to a Reuters report, British maritime hazard steadfast Vanguard identified the crude bearer Skipper arsenic the vas seized aboriginal Wednesday disconnected Venezuela’s coast.

MarineTraffic lists the Skipper arsenic a precise ample crude bearer measuring 333m (1,093 feet) successful magnitude and 60m (197 feet) successful width.

The tanker was sanctioned successful 2022 for allegedly helping to transport lipid for the Lebanese equipped group, Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, and Iran’s Quds Force.

The Skipper departed Venezuela’s main lipid terminal astatine Jose betwixt December 4 and 5 aft loading astir 1.8 cardinal barrels of Merey crude, a heavy, high-sulphur blend produced successful Venezuela.

“I presume we’re going to support the oil,” President Trump said connected Wednesday.

Before the seizure, the tanker had transferred astir 200,000 barrels adjacent Curacao to the Panama-flagged Neptune 6, which was headed for Cuba, according to outer information analysed by TankerTrackers.com.

According to shipping information from Venezuela’s state-owned lipid and state institution Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the vas besides transported Venezuelan crude to Asia successful 2021 and 2022.

Where did the seizure instrumentality place?

The US said it seized the lipid tanker successful the Caribbean Sea.

US officials person said the enactment occurred adjacent Venezuelan territorial waters, though they person not provided precise coordinates.

MarineTraffic information shows the vessel’s tracker inactive located successful the Caribbean.

Is the US enactment legal?

Cancian noted that “seizing sanctioned items is communal wrong a country’s ain territory. It is antithetic successful planetary waters”.

He added: “Russia has hundreds of sanctioned tankers sailing today, but they person not been boarded.”

Experts accidental it is unclear whether the seizure was legal, partially due to the fact that galore details astir it person not been made public.

Still, the US could marque usage of assorted arguments to warrant the seizure if needs be.

One is that the vessel is regarded arsenic stateless. Under the UN Convention connected the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), ships request “a nationality”.

The authorities of Guyana, Venezuela’s neighbour, said the Skipper was “falsely flying the Guyana flag”, adding that it is not registered successful the country.

If a vas flies a emblem it is not registered under, oregon refuses to amusement immoderate emblem astatine all, states person the “right of visit”, allowing their officials to halt and inspect the vessel connected the precocious seas – fundamentally meaning planetary waters.

If doubts astir a ship’s nationality stay aft checking its documents, a much extended hunt tin follow.

In erstwhile enforcement actions against sanctioned ships, the US has seized not the vessel itself but the lipid connected board. In 2020, it confiscated substance from 4 tankers allegedly carrying Iranian lipid to Venezuela.

US instrumentality besides allows the Coast Guard, which carried retired this operation, to behaviour searches and seizures connected the precocious seas successful bid to enforce US laws, stating that it “may marque inquiries, examinations, inspections, searches, seizures, and arrests upon the precocious seas” to forestall and suppress violations.

But immoderate ineligible experts reason that the US has overstepped, arsenic it “has nary jurisdiction to enforce unilateral sanctions connected non-US persons extracurricular its territory”, according to Francisco Rodriguez, a elder probe chap astatine the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).

Rodriguez said the US is relying connected maritime rules for stateless vessels “as an entryway to warrant enforcing US sanctions extracurricular of US territory”.

“To the grade that the US is capable to proceed to bash so, it could importantly summation the outgo of doing concern with Venezuela and precipitate a deepening of the country’s economical recession,” helium warned in a CEPR article.

The US has nary jurisdiction to enforce unilateral sanctions connected non-US persons extracurricular its territory. The seizure of ships successful planetary waters to extraterritorially enforce US sanctions is simply a unsafe precedent and a usurpation of planetary law.

— Francisco Rodríguez (@frrodriguezc) December 10, 2025

How has Venezuela responded to the seizure?

Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry stated that “the existent reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela person yet been exposed”.

“It is not migration, it is not cause trafficking, it is not democracy, it is not quality rights – it was ever astir our earthy resources, our oil, our energy, the resources that beryllium exclusively to the Venezuelan people,” the connection said.

The ministry described the incidental arsenic an “act of piracy.”

The authorities added that it volition entreaty to “all” planetary bodies to denounce the incidental and vowed to support its sovereignty, earthy resources, and nationalist dignity with “absolute determination”.

“Venezuela volition not let immoderate overseas powerfulness to effort to instrumentality from the Venezuelan radical what belongs to them by humanities and law right,” it said.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro gestures towards supporters, during a march to commemorate the 1859 Battle of Santa Ines successful Caracas, Venezuela, connected December 10, 2025 [Gaby Oraa/ Reuters]

What are the imaginable consequences for Venezuela’s lipid exports?

Experts accidental the seizure could nutrient short-term uncertainty for Venezuelan lipid exports, mostly due to the fact that “this has been the archetypal clip [the United States has]… seized a shipment of Venezuelan oil”, Carlos Eduardo Pina, a Venezuelan governmental scientist, told Al Jazeera.

That whitethorn marque shippers hesitate, though the broader interaction is limited, Pina said, since “the US allows the Chevron institution to proceed extracting Venezuelan oil”, and US radical Chevron holds a peculiar waiver permitting it to nutrient and export crude contempt wider sanctions.

Chevron, which operates associated ventures with PDVSA, said its operations successful Venezuela stay mean and proceed without disruption.

The US lipid major, which is presently liable for each Venezuelan crude exports to the US, accrued shipments past period to 150,000 barrels per time (bopd), up from 128,000 bpd successful October.

Inside Venezuela, Pina warned the determination could spark fiscal panic, however: “It could instil fear, trigger a currency run… and worsen the humanitarian crisis.”

How volition this impact US-Venezuela relations?

Diplomatically, Pina said helium views the enactment arsenic a governmental connection to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, noting its timing – “the aforesaid time that [opposition leader] Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Prize” – and calling it “a motion of strength… to punctual that [the US is contiguous successful the Latin American region].”

Maduro has agelong argued that the Trump administration’s strikes connected boats successful the Caribbean and eastbound Pacific are not, successful fact, aimed astatine preventing cause running, but are portion of a program to effect authorities alteration successful Venezuela. Trump has authorised CIA operations successful Venezuela and has fixed conflicting messages astir whether helium would see a onshore invasion.

Analysts spot this latest enactment arsenic portion of a broader strategy to unit the Maduro government.

“This is surely an escalation designed to enactment further unit connected the Maduro regime, causing it to fracture internally oregon convincing Maduro to leave,” said Cancian.

“It is portion of a bid of US actions specified arsenic sending the Ford to the Caribbean, authorising the CIA to determination against the Maduro regime, and conducting flybys with bombers and, recently, F-18s.”

Cancian added that the broader meaning of the cognition depends connected what comes next.

“The intent besides depends connected whether the US seizes further tankers,” helium said. “In that case, this looks similar a blockade of Venezuela. Because Venezuela depends truthful heavy connected lipid revenue, it could not withstand specified a blockade for long.”