The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful.
"The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela's illegal sanctions evasion," a U.S. official said. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order."
Another official said the tanker was under sanctions, but added that it had not been boarded so far and that interceptions can take different forms — including by sailing or flying close to vessels of concern.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not give a specific location for the operation or name the vessel being pursued. British maritime risk management group Vanguard, along with a U.S. maritime security source, identified the vessel as Bella 1, a crude oil carrier that is on the Treasury Department's sanctions list.
Bella 1 was empty when it was approaching Venezuela on Sunday, according to TankerTrackers.com. The vessel had in 2021 provided transportation for Venezuela's oil to China, according to internal documents from state company PDVSA. It had also previously carried Iranian crude, according to the vessel monitoring service.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week announced a "blockade" of all oil tankers under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela.
Trump's pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near the South American nation. At least 100 people have been killed in the attacks.
The first two oil tankers seized were operating on the black market and providing oil to countries under sanctions, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House's National Economic Council, said in a television interview on Sunday.
"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" program. "There's just a couple of them, and they were black market ships."
But one oil trader told Reuters that the seizures may push oil prices slightly higher when Asian trading resumes on Monday.
"We might see prices increasing modestly at the opening, considering market participants could see this as an escalation with more Venezuelan barrels at risk" because the tanker intercepted on Saturday was not under U.S. sanctions, UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
Another analyst said the seizures raise geopolitical risks and are likely to increase friction in the shadow fleet of vessels that move oil from sanctioned countries like Venezuela, Russia and Iran.
The seizures could legitimize and encourage Ukraine to continue attacking Russian vessels and possibly encourage Europe to detain Moscow-linked dark fleet vessels as well, said Matias Togni, oil shipping analyst at NextBarrel.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
17 Comments
TaiwanIsNotChina
The EU is 3x the US trade volume as South America and Asia-Pacific is 4x. As usual, the Trump administration has its eye on the ball. Just not the right ones.
Wick's pencil
These are US sanctions. Venezuela does not have any obligation to obey them. The only thing illegal is the US stealing Venezuela's oil.
deanzaZZR
"Bella 1 was empty when it was approaching Venezuela on Sunday, according to TankerTrackers.com. The vessel had in 2021 provided transportation for Venezuela's oil to China, according to internal documents from state company PDVSA. It had also previously carried Iranian crude, according to the vessel monitoring service."
None of which is illegal under international law.
bass4funk
I wish they would try that.
Whatever works to get Maduro out.
Overworld
pirates of Caribbean with US flag?
highly likely.
all of this is about to put Venezuela under US control with "democrat" leader/recently in Norway so US can exploit Venezuelan gas,oil and natural resources...what a "american values" well known from past...remember United Fruit Co.?
just year in calendar is 2025 now...
OssanAmerica
They are coalition sanctions. US,EU,UK,G7 sanctions. While true that nations do not have to respect such sanctions failure to do so may result in diplomatic pressure, trade retaliation, Tariffs or export controls, Financial isolation, Sanction escalation and Political labeling as a sanctions evader, Asset freezes, loss of access to USD clearing, Banking bklacklisting, insurance cancellation, port bans, trade embargoes, visa bans, travel restrictions and criminal penalties within the sanctioning countries' jurisdictions.
The US since 2018 has been the world's largest producer of oil. It has no need to "steal" oil from anyone.
OssanAmerica
It is illegal under US and coalition law.
The vessel has been under a US Treasury OFAC sanctions order since June 2024 and subject to a judicial seizure order. Seizure can be implemented in US or international waters.
deanzaZZR
ALL US domestic laws and regulations.
You may be happy with the USA playing world cop. Much of the world is not and is taking note.
"Coalition law" is an interesting term, it brings to mind 'Rules based international order, y'all.'
TaiwanIsNotChina
UN sanctions on Iran are back in business, thankfully. Time for China to go back and break some more laws.
TaiwanIsNotChina
He's still going to be there smiling when Trump is out on his assets.
quercetum
This has the weary familiarity of an old imperial habit dressed up in modern diplomatic tailoring. Officials in Washington insist this is all part of a principled stand, a rules‑based order, a defence of democracy. But to anyone watching from the outside, it looks suspiciously like the world’s most powerful nation helping itself to other people’s property while insisting it’s doing everyone a favour.
The language is always the same: safeguarding stability, enforcing sanctions, protecting freedom. Yet the choreography is unmistakable. A superpower spots a ship full of oil, declares it a threat to something or other, and suddenly the vessel is being escorted away under the stars and stripes. If another country behaved this way, the headlines would be blunter. But when the United States does it, the world is expected to nod politely and pretend it’s all terribly complicated.
The Americans call it enforcement. Everyone else quietly calls it what it resembles: piracy with paperwork.
Democracies don’t run on fresh air and inspirational slogans. They run on oil. Without it, the speeches get shorter, the lights get dimmer, and the principles start looking negotiable.
Fos
United States are an imperialist country trying to safeguard its own interests.
To put it with the Political Analyst and Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs: “The United States are the most lawless and dangerous country in the world by far. If the US were punished for all its war crimes, the world would be a better place”.
okinawarides
*These are US sanctions. Venezuela does not have any obligation to obey them. The only thing illegal is the US stealing Venezuela's oil.*
US has no credible basis for seizing tankers of Venezuela coast. Washington has a long history of "one rule for me , one for thee" and this is just a latest example.
Raw Beer
Yeah, they can do all that, but where does stealing a tanker in international waters fit in?
I know they tried to indirectly link this to drug trafficking, which they somehow claim as a WMD!
But seriously, we all know what all this is about. The US is interfering in Venezuelan politics, because they can't control the current leader.
masterblaster
Seize it.
bass4funk
Oh, I don't think so.
Blacklabel
All this dictator love. Why?