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US in 'pursuit' of third Venezuelan oil tanker in Caribbean piracy series

Monday, 22 December 2025 12:58 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 22 December 2025 12:58 AM ]

This screen grab taken from a video posted on the X account of US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem shows the Centuries crude oil tanker, last docked in Venezuela, as it is apprehended by the US Coast Guard on December 20, 2025. (Photo: AFP)

The US intensified its aggressive harassment of Venezuelan shipping on Sunday by pursuing yet another tanker, escalating Washington's siege on Venezuela's critical oil industry amid unproven accusations.

This latest act of maritime aggression follows the Coast Guard's unlawful seizure of a second vessel off Venezuela's coast just a day earlier, underscoring the President Donald Trump administration’s pattern of coercive tactics aimed at undermining the sovereign government in Caracas.

Trump announced on December 16 a blockade of “sanctioned oil vessels” sailing to and from Venezuela.

He has also deployed a large naval armada in the Caribbean with a stated mission of combating drug trafficking, though Caracas says it is a pressure campaign to oust President Nicolás Maduro.

“The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark‑fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion. It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order,” a US official told AFP.

News outlets identified the ship as the Bella 1, an oil tanker under US sanctions since 2024 because of alleged ties to Iran and Hezbollah.

According to the specialized site TankerTrackers, the ship was en route to Venezuela but was not carrying cargo.

US actions against Venezuela endanger global, regional peace: Araghchi

Iran expresses its solidarity with the Venezuelan people and government amid the United States’ illegal maritime attacks and threats to use force against the South American country.

US forces approached the vessel late Saturday, but the ship did not submit to boarding and continued sailing, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed officials.

Earlier on Saturday, the US Coast Guard seized the Centuries, which, according to TankerTrackers, is a Chinese‑owned, Panama‑flagged tanker.

The site said the ship had been loaded with 1.8 million barrels of crude oil at a Venezuelan port earlier this month before being escorted out of the country’s exclusive economic zone on December 18.

The Trump administration claims that Venezuela is using oil, its main resource, to finance “narcoterrorism.”

Since September, the US military has also conducted a series of airstrikes on alleged drug‑trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Critics have questioned the legality of these attacks, which have killed more than 100 people.

Caracas denies any involvement in drug trafficking and insists that Washington is seeking to overthrow Maduro to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves.

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