US forces seize seventh sanctioned tanker linked to Venezuela

U.S. military forces boarded and took control of a seventh oil tanker connected with Venezuela on Tuesday as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to take control of the South American country’s oil.

U.S. Southern Command said in a social media post that U.S. forces apprehended the Motor Vessel Sagitta “without incident” and that the tanker was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

The military command did not say whether the U.S. Coast Guard took control of the tanker as has been the case in prior seizures . The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for more details. Southern Command said it had nothing to add to its post.

The Sagitta is a Liberian-flagged tanker and its registration says it is owned and managed by a company in Hong Kong. The ship last transmitted its location more than two months ago when exiting the Baltic Sea in northern Europe.

The tanker was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department under an executive order related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The post from U.S. Southern Command indicated the ship had taken oil from Venezuela. It said the capture of the tanker “demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully.”

The military command posted what appeared to be aerial footage of the Sagitta sailing on the ocean, but unlike in prior videos the clip did not show U.S. forces flying toward it in helicopters or landing on the deck of the ship.

Since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid on Jan. 3, the Trump administration has set out to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products.

Officials in Trump’s Republican administration have made it clear they see seizing the tankers as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies nearly two weeks ago to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. He said at the time that the U.S. expected to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that the U.S. already has taken 50 million barrels of oil out of Venezuela.

“We’ve got millions of barrels of oil left,” he said at the White House. “We’re selling it on the open market. We’re bringing down oil prices incredibly.”

The first tanker was seized off the coast of Venezuela on Dec. 10. Most of the other tankers also have been captured in the waters near Venezuela, with the exception of the Bella 1, which was captured in the North Atlantic.

The Bella 1 had been cruising across the Atlantic and nearing the Caribbean when on Dec. 15 it abruptly turned and headed north, toward Europe. The ship was ultimately captured on Jan. 8.

周二，美国军方登上并控制了第七艘与委内瑞拉有关的油轮，这是特朗普政府为控制这个南美国家的石油而采取的更广泛行动的一部分。

美国南方司令部在社交媒体上发帖称，美军“未发生任何意外”便扣押了“萨吉塔”号机动船，并称该油轮的航行公然违反了唐纳德·特朗普总统“对加勒比海受制裁船只实施的隔离措施”。

军方指挥部并未说明美国海岸警卫队是否像以往扣押事件那样控制了这艘油轮。五角大楼也未立即回应有关细节的请求。南方司令部表示，他们没有补充说明。

“萨吉塔”号是一艘悬挂利比里亚国旗的油轮，其注册信息显示该船由一家香港公司拥有和管理。该船最后一次发送位置信息是在两个多月前，当时它正驶出波罗的海，进入北欧海域。

这艘油轮因俄罗斯在 2022 年入侵乌克兰而受到美国财政部的行政命令制裁。

美国南方司令部的帖子指出，这艘船从委内瑞拉装载了石油。帖子称，扣押这艘油轮“表明我们决心确保只有经过适当和合法协调的石油才能离开委内瑞拉。”

军方发布了一段疑似“萨吉塔”号在海上航行的航拍视频，但与之前的视频不同，这段视频并没有显示美军乘坐直升机飞向该舰或降落在舰甲板上。

自1月3日美国在夜间突袭推翻委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗以来，特朗普政府一直致力于控制委内瑞拉石油产品的生产、提炼和全球分销。

特朗普共和党政府官员已明确表示，他们将扣押油轮视为一种筹集资金的方式，以期重建委内瑞拉遭受重创的石油工业并恢复其经济。

大约两周前，特朗普会见了多家石油公司的高管，讨论了他向委内瑞拉投资1000亿美元，用于修复和升级该国石油生产和分销系统的计划。他当时表示，美国预计将出售至少3000万至5000万桶委内瑞拉石油。

特朗普周二告诉记者，美国已经从委内瑞拉夺取了5000万桶石油。

他在白宫说：“我们还有数百万桶石油剩余。我们正在公开市场上出售这些石油。我们正在大幅降低油价。”

第一艘油轮于 12 月 10 日在委内瑞拉海岸附近被扣押。除 Bella 1 号在北大西洋被扣押外，其他大部分油轮也都在委内瑞拉附近水域被扣押。

贝拉1号邮轮当时正在横渡大西洋，接近加勒比海时，于12月15日突然转向北上，驶向欧洲。该船最终于1月8日被俘获。