The U.S. has seized the Olina tanker in the Caribbean, the fifth vessel targeted in recent weeks as Washington steps up efforts to curb Venezuelan oil exports, U.S. officials said on Friday.The
The U.S. has seized the Olina tanker in the Caribbean, the fifth vessel targeted in recent weeks as Washington steps up efforts to curb Venezuelan oil exports, U.S. officials said on Friday.
The Olina, which according to public shipping database Equasis was falsely flying the flag of Timor Leste, previously sailed from Venezuela and had returned to the region, said an industry source with direct knowledge of the matter.
In a pre-dawn move, marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, launched from the carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, apprehended the Olina in the Caribbean Sea "without incident", the U.S. Southern Command said on X.
"Once again, our joint interagency forces sent a clear message this morning: 'there is no safe haven for criminals,'" it said.
The Olina left Venezuela last week fully loaded with oil as part of a flotilla shortly after the U.S. seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, and the vessel was returning fully loaded to Venezuela following the U.S. blockade of Venezuelan oil exports, the industry source said.
"The vessel’s AIS (location) tracker was last active 52 days ago in the Venezuelan EEZ, northeast of Curacao," British maritime risk management company Vanguard
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