The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted the tanker “Olina” in the Caribbean Sea near Trinidad. Coast Guard personnel boarded the vessel on January 9, reported The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, citing U.S. officials.
As The Bell notes, the registration number of “Olina” matches that of the tanker “Minerva M.” In January 2025, the vessel was added to the U.S. sanctions list as part of the shadow fleet used to transport Russian oil in circumvention of Western restrictions.
The tanker is sailing under the flag of East Timor. It last transmitted data on its location 52 days ago—in mid-November—while off the coast of Venezuela, according to information from Vanguard cited by Reuters.