US ‘In Active Pursuit’ Of Third Oil Tanker Near Venezuela: Media | World News

WASHINGTON: The United States is “actively pursuing” a third oil tanker in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, US news outlets reported on Sunday. A US official told NBC News: “The US Coast Guard is actively pursuing a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion. It is flying a false flag and is under a judicial seizure order.”

Bloomberg News reported early Sunday that the tanker Bella 1 was boarded by U.S. personnel while en route to Venezuela to load cargo. It was later stated that the follow-up continued. If captured, the oil tanker would be the third tanker bound for the oil-rich South American country to be stopped by the United States in less than two weeks, Xinhua news agency reported.

A day earlier, the US Coast Guard landed the Centuries, a Panama-flagged supertanker not on Washington’s sanctions list, off the coast of Venezuela. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement on

On December 10, US forces seized the tanker Skipper near Venezuelan waters and announced that the US planned to retain its oil cargo. On December 16, US President Donald Trump announced that the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been designated a “foreign terrorist organization” and ordered a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned tankers entering or leaving Venezuela.

Dozens of tankers on the U.S. sanctions list currently remain in Venezuelan waters, according to oil shipping watchdog TankerTrackers.com. Oil exports are seen as the backbone of Venezuela’s economy and account for the vast majority of foreign income.

Venezuela accused Washington of seeking regime change and military expansion in Latin America and condemned the interception of oil tankers as “piracy”.