Image Credit: DOD 
Update (0930ET):
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that U.S. Coast Guard forces “executed a boarding and seizure” of the motor tanker Olina in international waters east of the Caribbean Sea.
Noem said Olina was part of a vast network of so-called “ghost fleet” tankers suspected of carrying embargoed oil. She stated that the ship had departed Venezuela and was attempting to evade U.S. forces.
She added that the operation was conducted in close coordination with the Department of Defense, the State Department, and the Department of Justice.
“The ghost fleets will not outrun justice. They will not hide under false claims of nationality. The Coast Guard will seize sanctioned oil tankers, enforce U.S. and international law, and eliminate these funding streams for illicit activity, including narco-terrorism,” Noem said.
U.S. forces, under President Trump’s Western Hemisphere reposturing and gunboat diplomacy against Venezuela, have now seized five tankers. We expect these seizures to increase as efforts to dismantle this tanker network expand.
Trump has requested a 50% increase in the U.S. military budget to $1.5 trillion by 2027, suggesting that pushing China and Russia out of the Western Hemisphere and asserting control in what is called ‘Donroe Doctrine’ will come at high cost.
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The foreign policy move to dismantle the so-called “dark fleet” of crude oil tankers moving Venezuela’s oil around the world, through President Trump’s gunboat diplomacy to secure the Western Hemisphere, was once again on full display on Friday morning.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Coast Guard forces boarded a fifth oil tanker, Olina, as part of a widening blockade targeting sanctioned dark-fleet vessels.
Olina, previously sanctioned for transporting Russian oil, was last tracked near Venezuela.
The seizure of Olina is likely to further ignite tensions between Washington and Moscow, days after the US seized Marinera (formerly Bella 1) in the North Atlantic. Russia previously told the US not to seize Bella 1, which was shadowed by Russian Navy assets.
Latest from the Western Hemisphere:
- Donroe Doctrine: US Seizes Russian-Flagged Tanker In Atlantic, Intercepts Dark-Fleet Ship In Caribbean
- Chevron Contracts 11 Tankers For Venezuela Port Calls As Don-Roe Doctrine Begins
- The “Don-Roe Doctrine” Has Already Set The Tone For 2026
- White House Mulls Payments Up To $100,000 Per Greenlander To Join US
- US Plans To Keep Troops In Caribbean Through 2028, Planning Docs Show
The Trump administration is using these seizures to dismantle Venezuela’s dark fleet of about 1,000 tankers that evade sanctions – a network that carries about 70% of the country’s oil exports, much of which ends up in Asia.
Marco Rubio said earlier this week that the blockade provides maximum leverage over Caracas, while also warning Russia, China, and Iran against backing Venezuela. This gunboat diplomacy is supported by the U.S. Navy, including the USS Gerald R. Ford, and backed by Justice Department resources, signaling that more tanker seizures are just ahead.
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