Get a free 15-day trial of Odoo’s all-in-one business solution and see how it can make your life easier! Check it out at https://www.odoo.com/r/TFqF
The “Tanker War” is back, and this time it’s playing out through sanctions enforcement, tanker seizures, and drone attacks on oil shipping.
In December 2025, the U.S. Coast Guard seized the crude tanker M/T Skipper after it departed Venezuela. Since then, U.S. forces have pursued and intercepted additional Venezuela-linked, sanctioned tankers as Washington ramps up maritime enforcement against sanctions-evasion shipping.
At the same time, Ukraine has expanded attacks on Russia’s oil shipping, using sea drones to hit “shadow fleet” tankers in and beyond the Black Sea.
In this video, we break down the 1980s Tanker War, how the U.S. got pulled into escort duty (Operation Earnest Will), how it escalated into Operation Praying Mantis, and what the new wave of seizures and tanker strikes says about modern maritime conflict.
00:00 – Intro
01:16 – Ad Read
02:16 – What a “Tanker War” is
08:58 – The US tanker seizures near Venezuela
11:00 – Ukraines tanker attacks
12:41 – What could this mean for the US military?
15:15 – Channel Updates
Written by: Kyle Gunn
Edited by: Savvy
Task & Purpose is a military news and culture-oriented channel. We want to foster discussion about the defense industry.
Merchandise: store.taskandpurpose.com
Like this video? You’ll love https://taskandpurpose.com/
And you can follow us on social, too.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taskandpurpose/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/taskandpurpose
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@taskandpurpose
