The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker linked to Venezuelan crude exports as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to choke off the country’s oil trade. President Donald Trump publicly called for a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned vessels moving Venezuelan oil.
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The tanker under pursuit has previously been sanctioned and was part of Venezuela’s so-called “shadow fleet,” using deceptive practices such as flying a false flag to conceal its registration. U.S. officials identified the vessel as the Bella 1, a very large crude carrier sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 and subject to a judicial seizure order. The tanker was originally en route to Venezuela but turned around last week to avoid the U.S. blockade of sanctioned crude carriers.
The pursuit is part of an expanding effort by the U.S. to topple the government of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, whom the White House has dubbed a “narcoterrorist” responsible for exporting crime and drugs to the U.S. Venezuela is heavily reliant on oil revenue, much of which comes from the transport and sale of its oil by sanctioned “shadow fleet” tanker ships.
The seizure of the Bella 1 would be the third under the new blockade. Over the weekend, the Coast Guard boarded the Centuries, a Panamanian-flagged tanker that had loaded 1.8 million barrels of crude in Venezuela but was not listed on U.S. or international sanctions rolls. The White House said the ship was operating illegally.
