A US Destroyer Decisively Met A Russian Tanker Off The Coast Of Venezuela

• 21.11.2025, 19:48

The Russian vessel changed course.

A Russian tanker, part of the "shadow fleet," changed its route and stopped sailing to Venezuela after meeting with a US destroyer.

According to Bloomberg.

According to the agency, the Russian oil tanker Seahorse turned around on its way to Venezuela after a US warship crossed its route off the country's coast.

The Russian vessel changed course while heading toward Cuba and has since tried twice to approach Venezuela, but turned back both times and is still idling in the Caribbean.

The Seahorse tanker is under sanctions by Britain and the European Union and is supplying oil to Venezuela. According to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, the Russian vessel turned around on its way to Venezuela after a U.S. warship crossed its route off the country's coast.

It is not known if the U.S. destroyer USS Stockdale had any contact with the under-sanctioned tanker. The ship's intentions toward the Russian vessel are unclear, and a spokesman for U.S. Southern Command declined to comment on the vessel's movements.

The USS Stockdale is known to have arrived in the Caribbean in late September along with a dozen other ships to support President Donald Trump's anti-drug operations in the region.