The United States has seized another tanker in its campaign to control the flow of oil to and from Venezuela.
The Olina was seized overnight in the Caribbean Sea, an operation conducted by the Coast Guard and Joint Task Force Southern Spear, two U.S. officials told NBC News.
The U.S. military confirmed the seizure, saying in a post on X that it was "unwavering in its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere."
The Olina was "another “ghost fleet” tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a separate post. The vessel "had departed Venezuela attempting to evade U.S. forces," she added.
The Olina was falsely registered with Timor Leste, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a maritime data analysis company.
It's the fifth tanker seized by the U.S. in recent weeks, and comes days after American forces in the North Atlantic took control of the Bella 1, a Russian-flagged tanker that fled the American blockade and led a weekslong chase.
The U.S. also announced the seizure Wednesday of another sanctioned tanker, the Sophia, which it said was “conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea.”
The Kremlin on Friday thanked Washington, saying the U.S. had agreed to release two of the Bella 1's Russian crew members, while President Donald Trump confirmed that Moscow had sent naval assets to try to protect the ship.
“In response to our appeal, U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to release two Russian citizens from among the crew of the tanker Marinera, who had previously been detained by the American side during an operation in the North Atlantic,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Telegram.
“We welcome this decision and express our gratitude to the U.S. leadership,” Zakharova said.
There was no immediate response to the statement from the U.S.
The Bella 1 was seized in the North Atlantic on Wednesday in an operation that defied Russian warnings. The ship, suspected to be part of the so-called shadow fleet fueling Moscow's war-time economy in circumvention of international sanctions, changed its name to the Marinera and hoisted a Russian flag after escaping the U.S. blockade of Venezuela last month.
In an interview with Fox News late Thursday, Trump said that Moscow had sent a submarine and a destroyer to guard the ship, both of which “left very quickly when we arrived.”
“They decided not to mess around with us,” Trump added.
He evaded a question about whether Putin had called him following the seizure. “I don’t want to say that,” Trump said.
The U.S. seized two oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela last month as part of its blockade. The Bella 1 was one of a number of sanctioned oil tankers operating near Venezuela that have recently changed their flags to Russia.
The Kremlin, a strong supporter of deposed President Nicolás Maduro, accused the U.S. of violating maritime law by seizing the ship.
