The US has seized a sixth tanker in the Caribbean Sea in its ongoing efforts to control exports of Venezuelan oil.
The US military says the vessel, Veronica, was boarded in a predawn operation "without incident" as it was defying President Donald Trump's "quarantine of sanctioned vessels".
The Southern Command said the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully."
Since the US military strikes on Venezuela and seizure of its president Nicolás Maduro this month, Trump has said he plans to tap into the country's huge oil reserves.
The US Southern Command said in a post on social media that the Veronica is the latest tanker operating in defiance of President Trump's established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean."
It also posted a video showing Marines and sailors boarding the tanker.
Monitoring service TankerTrackers.com says Veronica, a crude oil tanker sailing under a Guyanese flag, departed empty from Venezuelan waters in early January.
The International Maritime Organization's database shows the vessel was previously registered in Russia under different names.
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