US seizes seventh sanctioned tanker off Venezuela

The US military’s Southern Command confirmed that US forces have taken control of another tanker in the Caribbean Sea, the seventh tanker tied to sanctioned trading of Venezuelan oil seized by the US military since forces seized a Venezuela-linked VLCC in early December. 

Posting to its feed on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the US Southern Command referenced an Aframax tanker, Sagitta, saying the vessel was operating "in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean".

According to the US Southern Command, the vessel’s confiscation "demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is co-ordinated properly and lawfully".

Independent crude oil shipments tracker Tanker Trackers said on its X profile that Sagitta had stopped exporting Russian oil as part of a ’shadow’ or ’ghost’ fleet of tankers tied to illicit trading when the US sanctioned the vessel as part of a list of 150 vessels sanctioned in a move by the US Treasury in 2025.

The vessel later "exported fuel out of Venezuela in August 2025 under a zombie alias," Tanker Trackers said.

The 106,000-dwt Aframax tanker’s last AIS locator beacon report on vessel valuation website VesselsValue shows the ship’s name as Kathia and its location on 2 November 2025 as being in the Baltic Sea, fully laden with cargo.  

Both VesselsValue and the Equasis vessel database list ownership details for the 2005-built vessel as linked to a Hong Kong-based company known as Camellia Jackson. Sanctions-tracking databases list the company as ’of interest’ but non sanctioned, and those involved with the company are anonymous despite a reported 2022 purchase linked to the company of 13 vessels at a price of nearly US$400M.

Sagitta, which sailed under a Panama flag until late 2024, the same time the Panamania ship registry began to take steps to cull its roster of sanctioned vessels, is listed in Equasis’ data as currently having an unknown flag registration.

Tanker Trackers also reported that previously commandeered vessels M Sophia and Veronica have been spotted off the coast of US protectorate Puerto Rico.

Riviera reported on court documents showing that the US is asking federal courts for warrants to seize tankers in forfeiture claims and Reuters reported that US President Donald Trump’s administration is looking to secure US court approvals to confiscate ’dozens’ more vessels.

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• Video: US forces seize oil tanker off Venezuela