Satellite imagery has depicted what appears to be at least three US military vessels surrounding Trinidad today, one off its northern coast, and two within the Gulf of Paria.

European Space Agency (ESA) satellite Sentinel-2 L1C captured one large vessel, believed by experts to the the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship deployed by the US Navy to the Caribbean earlier this year, situated just north of Diego Martin, 41 miles from Trinidad’s northern coast, and 45 from Venezuela.

The Iwo Jima is a Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD), a type of vessel that has historically provided US Marine Corps with a means of ship-to-shore movement by helicopter in addition to movement by landing craft.