Washington (United States) (AFP) – The US Coast Guard was pursuing another allegedly sanctioned tanker on Sunday, a US official told AFP, as Washington ramps up its pressure campaign targeting Venezuela’s vital oil sector. The “active pursuit” in the Caribbean Sea was happening a day after the Coast Guard seized its second vessel off Venezuela in two weeks.
US President Donald Trump announced on December 16 a blockade of “sanctioned oil vessels” sailing to and from Venezuela, demanding the return of allegedly stolen US assets in the oil-rich South American country. He has also deployed a large navy armada in the Caribbean with a stated mission of combatting drug trafficking, but which Caracas says is a pressure campaign to oust President Nicolas 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, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in a statement to AFP.
News outlets identified the ship involved 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 not carrying cargo. US forces approached the vessel late Saturday, but the ship did not submit to being boarded 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 and Panama-flagged tanker. It said that ship was loaded with 1.8 million barrels of crude oil at a Venezuelan port earlier this month before being escorted out of the Latin American country’s exclusive economic zone on December 18. An AFP review found that the Centuries did not appear on the US Treasury Department’s list of sanctioned companies and individuals.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on Sunday posted a statement to social media about oil giant Chevron sending a tanker from Caracas to the United States carrying Venezuelan oil — without mentioning either vessel interdicted by Washington. “A ship of the American company Chevron has set sail from our country carrying Venezuelan oil bound for the United States, in strict adherence to regulations and in fulfillment of the commitments undertaken by our oil industry,” Rodriguez said on Telegram. Chevron renewed its license this year to extract crude oil from Venezuela, accounting for roughly 10 percent of the country’s production.
“Venezuela has always been, and will continue to be, respectful of national and international legality,” Rodriguez continued. The Trump administration claims that Venezuela is using oil, its main resource, to finance “narcoterrorism.” The US military since September has also conducted a series of air strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Critics have questioned the legality of the 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.
© 2024 AFP
