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The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials who spoke to the media outlets said late Sunday, in what would be the third such interception 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 US official told Reuters, adding, "It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order."
The vessel has been identified as Bella 1, a Panamanian-flagged very large crude oil carrier that was added to the U.S. Treasury Department sanctions list last year due to links to Iran, according to British maritime risk group Vanguard and a U.S. maritime security source.
Bella 1 was empty and approaching Venezuela on Sunday, according to TankerTrackers.com.
The vessel transported Venezuelan oil to China in 2021, according to internal documents from state-run oil company PDVSA, and has previously carried Iranian crude.
The pursuit follows the boarding of the supertanker Centuries on Saturday and the seizure of the Skipper on Dec. 10.
In a pre-dawn operation Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard seized the Panama-flagged Centuries.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said the vessel was "a falsely flagged vessel operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil and fund the narcoterrorist Maduro regime."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed Saturday's operation, saying the Coast Guard "apprehended" the tanker with Department of War support.
"The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region," Noem said, adding, "We will find you, and we will stop you."
Unlike the Skipper, the Centuries is not on any sanctions list maintained by the U.S., EU, U.K. or U.N.
Venezuela condemned Saturday's seizure as "a serious act of piracy."
"The colonialist model that the U.S. government seeks to impose through such practices will fail and be defeated by the Venezuelan people," the Venezuelan government said in a statement.
Venezuela said, "These acts will not go unpunished" and announced plans to file complaints with the U.N. Security Council and other multilateral agencies.
China on Monday condemned the U.S. actions in the Caribbean.
"The U.S. practice of arbitrarily seizing other countries' vessels grossly violates international law," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in Beijing.
"China opposes unilateral, illicit sanctions that have no basis in international law or have no authorization of the United Nations Security Council," Lin said.
"Venezuela has the right to independently develop mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries, and we believe that the international community can understand and support Venezuela's stance of defending its own rights," he added.
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