The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, U.S. officials told Reuters on Sunday. If successful, it would mark the third tanker action in less than two weeks and the second this weekend.
A U.S. official said the Coast Guard is targeting a sanctioned vessel linked to Venezuela’s sanctions evasion network.
“The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion,”
the official said. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.”
Another official said the tanker remains under sanctions but has not yet been boarded. The official added that interdictions can take different forms, including close approaches by sea or air.
Officials did not disclose the vessel’s exact location or name. British maritime risk firm Vanguard and a U.S. maritime security source identified the tanker as Bella 1. The vessel is a crude oil carrier listed on the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions register.
According to TankerTrackers.com, Bella 1 was empty as it approached Venezuela on Sunday. The vessel previously transported Venezuelan oil to China in 2021, based on internal documents from state oil company PDVSA. Vessel monitoring data also show it has carried Iranian crude in the past.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
President Donald Trump last week announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela. The move forms part of a broader pressure campaign against President Nicolás Maduro.
That campaign includes an expanded U.S. military presence and more than two dozen strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela. At least 100 people have reportedly been killed in those operations.
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said the first two seized tankers operated on the black market. He said they supplied oil to countries under sanctions.
“And so I don’t think that people need to be worried here in the U.S. that the prices are going to go up because of these seizures of these ships,” Hassett said on CBS’ Face the Nation. “There’s just a couple of them, and they were black market ships.”
An oil trader told Reuters that the latest actions could still push oil prices slightly higher when Asian markets reopen on Monday.
