The United States Coast Guard is in pursuit of a third sanctioned oil tanker near Venezuelan waters, both Reuters and Bloomberg reported on Sunday.
Both outlets identified the vessel as the Bella 1, an oil tanker reportedly en route to Venezuela to load. Reuters pointed out that the tanker was sanctioned by the United States in June 2024 for its role in carrying sanctioned cargo on behalf of a Hezbollah-linked company in support of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
“The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned ‘dark fleet’ vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion,” an U.S. official told Reuters. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.”
A second unnamed U.S. official told Reuters that the tanker had not been boarded yet. Both officials did not disclose further specifics.
“A U.S. official said the tanker being pursued Sunday is flying under a false flag and under a judicial seizure order. Earlier, people familiar with the matter said the Bella 1 had already been boarded,” Bloomberg wrote.
RELATED: Seizure! U.S. Government Captures Tanker Carrying Sanctioned Iranian and Venezuelan Oil
Bloomberg, citing “a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified,” said that the Bella 1 tanker, bearing Panamanian flags, was en route to Venezuela to load fuel. Reuters, citing internal documentation from Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA, reported that the vessel transported Venezuelan oil to China in 2021.
Reuters, citing information from the independent tracking website tankertrackers.com, said that the tanker previously carried Iranian crude.
Both reports come hours after the United States seized an oil tanker near the coast of Venezuela on Sunday. The vessel, identified as Panamanian-flagged Centuries, was reportedly bound for Asia.
Sunday’s military operation marked the second sanctioned oil tanker seized by U.S. authorities since President Donald Trump announced a “total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela as part of his administration’s pressure campaign on Venezuela’s socialist Maduro regime. On December 10, the United States seized an oil tanker bound for Cuba.
“President Trump has been clear: the blockade of sanctioned oil tankers departing from, or bound for, Venezuela will remain in full force until Maduro’s criminal enterprise returns every stolen American asset,” U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wrote on a Sunday social media post.
The Maduro regime has fiercely condemned both seizures as an “act of piracy,” and urgently requested the U.N. Security Council address the matter on an upcoming meeting, reportedly scheduled for Tuesday.
On Sunday, dictator Nicolás Maduro published a video on his social media accounts denouncing the “Corsair Piracy,” without referring to either incident in specific.
“Venezuela has spent 25 weeks denouncing, confronting, and defeating a campaign of aggression ranging from psychological terrorism to pirates who have attacked oil tankers. We are ready to accelerate the march of the profound Revolution!” Maduro wrote on social media.
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