Updates to include destination of seized tanker.
The US seized the sanctioned Aframax tanker Olina while it was sailing in the Caribbean carrying Venezuelan crude earlier on Friday, marking the fifth confirmed seizure in recent months.
The 113,782 dwt Olina, flagged to Timor Leste according to the IMO database, was apprehended in the Caribbean Sea on 9 January, the US Southern Command said. "In a pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended the tanker Olina in the Caribbean Sea without incident," the command said.
The Olina was sanctioned by the US under the name Minerva M in October 2025, by the EU in May 2025 and by the UK in December 2024 for carrying Russian oil. The vessel's registered owner is Tantye Peur, Hong Kong, according to the IMO database.
The tanker last called at Russia in September 2024, when it loaded dirty products from Taman, Kpler data show. In 2025, the vessel was mostly involved in Venezuelan voyages, according to Kpler.
This is the fifth confirmed tanker seizure by the US in recent months. The US Coast Guard seized two vessels in December after President Donald Trump declared a partial oil blockade of Venezuela targeting tankers under US sanctions. It later seized the Marinera and M Sophia on 7 January.
Heading back to Venezuela
The Olina is being sent back to Venezuela,US president Donald Trump said in a social media post Friday. The oil on the ship will eventually be sold as part of an agreement Trump said the US reached with Venezuela to sell up to 50mn bls of crude to US buyers.
The Olina's return to Venezuela marks a departure from the administration's prior practices, which had been to bring seized vessels back to US ports. The first two vessels seized by US forces, the Centuries and Skipper very large crude carriers, have been posted off the coast of Houston, Texas, since they arrived back in the US, according to vessel tracking data from Kpler.
The cargo onboard those vessels may be difficult to unload due to the commercial implications of engaging in trade with ship still under US sanctions, according to a shipbroker.
