The US Coast Guard officials stated on Sunday (December 21) that they are in pursuit of a sanctioned oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela. If successful, this will be the second such operation this weekend and the third operation in less than two weeks.
According to Reuters, the Coast Guard officials reported the above information.
“The US Coast Guard is actively pursuing a sanctioned ‘dark ship’ that is part of Venezuela’s illegal evasion of sanctions,” a US official said. “It is flying a false flag and has been ordered to be detained by the court.”
Another official told Reuters that the oil tanker is on the US sanctions list and the Coast Guard has not yet conducted a boarding inspection. Intercept operations can take various forms, including sailing or flying close to the target vessel.
These US officials did not disclose the specific location of the interception operation, nor did they reveal the name of the vessel being pursued. However, the UK maritime risk management group Vanguard and a US maritime security source confirmed that the vessel is the “Bella 1,” an oil tanker that is on the US Department of the Treasury’s sanctions list.
According to the report from the oil tanker tracking website “TankerTrackers.com,” the “Bella 1” oil tanker was sailing near Venezuela empty on Sunday. Internal documents from Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA show that the vessel was used in 2021 to transport oil from Venezuela to China. Data from ship monitoring services also indicate that the vessel had previously transported Iranian oil.
This is the latest move by US President Trump to increase pressure on Venezuelan President Maduro and enforce a comprehensive blockade on illegal oil shipments.
The US Department of Homeland Security announced on December 20 on the social media platform X that the US Coast Guard, in collaboration with the Department of Defense, conducted an operation codenamed “Lightning Strike” and detained a large oil tanker named “Centuries” in international waters of the Caribbean. The vessel was suspected of transporting Venezuelan oil subject to US sanctions, and the official post included multiple on-site photos, including scenes of helicopter rappelling for enforcement.
Prior to this, the US also detained the Venezuelan oil tanker “Skipper.” The detained tanker was carrying approximately $80 million worth of oil. This marked the first time since 2019, when the US imposed sanctions on Venezuela, that a Venezuelan tanker has been detained, further escalating Washington’s pressure on Maduro.