US Coast Guard officials said on Sunday that they were tracking an oil tanker in international waters close to Venezuela, according to multiple unnamed US officials quoted by American media.
The move marks the second such operation over the weekend and the third within a week, as Washington intensifies pressure on Venezuela’s oil sector.
Officials described the operation as an “active pursuit” in the Caribbean Sea. It came a day after the coast guard seized another tanker off Venezuela’s coast.
Unnamed officials told the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse that the vessel was part of what they described as Venezuela’s “sanctioned dark fleet”, accused of evading international sanctions.
The tanker was allegedly sailing under a false flag and subject to a judicial seizure order, according to a US official.
Media outlets identified the ship as the Bella 1, an oil tanker placed under US sanctions in 2024 over alleged links to Iran and Hezbollah.
US forces approached the vessel late on Saturday, but it refused to allow boarding and continued sailing, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed officials. The situation was described as ongoing.
The specialist tracking site TankerTrackers said the ship was travelling towards Venezuela but was not carrying cargo.
The pursuit follows President Donald Trump’s recent declaration of a “blockade” against all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela.
The pressure campaign against Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has included a reinforced US military presence in the region and more than two dozen strikes against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean near Venezuela. Those operations have resulted in at least 100 deaths.
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said on CBS’s Face the Nation that the first two seized tankers had been operating illegally and supplying oil to sanctioned countries.
He said Americans should not expect fuel prices to rise as a result. “There’s just a couple of them and they were black market ships,” Hassett said.
However, an oil trader told Reuters that the seizures were likely to push prices higher when Asian markets reopen on Monday, due to rising geopolitical tensions. The trader added that hopes of an end to the war in Ukraine could limit further increases.
On Saturday, US forces stopped a second merchant vessel carrying oil in international waters off Venezuela’s coast, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
That action followed the seizure of another tanker on 10 December. Both ships were reportedly bound for Asia.
Asked whether he supported a US-backed regime change in Venezuela, Republican senator James Lankford of Oklahoma said on CNN’s State of the Union: “Well, yes, I do.”
Lankford said Maduro was “not the recognised leader of Venezuela”, an apparent reference to his defeat in the 2024 presidential election by former diplomat Edmundo González.
The developments come as Trump and his advisers have refused to rule out open conflict with Venezuela. Maduro has urged his navy to escort oil tankers in defiance of the largest US fleet deployed in the region in decades.
After the first tanker seizure, Venezuela’s government accused the US of “blatant theft”, calling the action “an act of international piracy”.
In an interview with NBC News on Friday, Trump said military action against Maduro’s government remained possible. “I don’t rule it out, no,” he said.
