US pursues another oil tanker near Venezuela as pressure campaign intensifies

The United States is pursuing another oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, according to a US official, as Washington escalates its pressure campaign against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The operation on Sunday follows the seizure of a second vessel off Venezuela’s coast within a fortnight, actions taken under what the White House has described as a blockade ordered by US President Donald Trump. A US official said the coastguard “remains in active pursuit” of the tanker, which was alleged to be part of Venezuela’s so-called “dark fleet” used to bypass US sanctions on the country’s oil sector.

According to the official, the vessel was sailing under a false flag and is subject to a judicial seizure order. A separate account, cited by Reuters, said the tanker is under US sanctions but has not yet been boarded, noting that interceptions can range from close surveillance to direct engagement.

While US authorities did not identify the vessel or disclose its precise location, British maritime risk firm Vanguard said it was the Bella 1, a very large crude carrier placed on the US Treasury’s sanctions list last year over alleged links to Iran. Data from TankerTrackers.com indicated that the ship was empty as it approached Venezuelan waters on Sunday.

Reuters, citing internal documents from Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, reported that the Bella 1 had previously transported Venezuelan oil to China in 2021 and had earlier carried Iranian crude.

The stepped-up action comes amid a significant US military buildup in the region, officially aimed at combating drug trafficking. Washington says it has carried out more than two dozen strikes on vessels suspected of narcotics smuggling in the Pacific and Caribbean near Venezuela. Critics, however, have questioned the legality of these operations, which they say have resulted in more than 100 deaths.

Venezuela has rejected accusations of involvement in drug trafficking and accused Washington of seeking to destabilise the Maduro government to gain control of the country’s oil reserves, the largest in the world. Caracas has condemned the seizures as acts of “international piracy”.

The White House said the first two tankers seized were operating on the black market and supplying oil to sanctioned countries. Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said the actions would not affect US fuel prices, describing the ships as “just a couple” operating outside legal markets.

One of the vessels seized over the weekend, the Panama-flagged Centuries, was carrying about 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan crude bound for China. Another ship, the Skipper, is now docked off the Texas coast, where its cargo of 1.9 million barrels is being offloaded for refining in the US — a move that has fuelled Venezuelan claims that Washington is stealing its oil.

The operation has also drawn criticism within Trump’s Republican Party. Senator Rand Paul warned that the seizures risk provoking a wider conflict, arguing that it was not the role of US forces to police the world.

Analysts have cautioned that rising tensions could lead to rights violations and further destabilisation, while noting that oil trade between Venezuela and major buyers such as China continues, alongside limited authorised exports to the US under existing arrangements with companies including Chevron.

With IANS inputs