The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker involved in transporting oil from Venezuela, according to three U.S. officials, part of an accelerating effort by the Trump administration to block ships from moving the country’s crude.
The attempted interdiction comes a day after the U.S. apprehended an oil tanker that wasn’t on its sanctions list and after President Trump in a social-media post last Tuesday ordered a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned tankers going into and out of Venezuela.
One of the officials said the tanker under pursuit was previously sanctioned and part of the so-called dark fleet of vessels involved in moving oil from Venezuela. The ship was flying a false flag to disguise the country where it is registered and is subject to a judicial seizure order, the official said.
Two other officials identified the ship as the Bella 1, a very large crude carrier, or VLCC, which was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024.
The flurry of moves against tankers signaled the Trump administration was escalating its pressure campaign against Venezuela. Trump has demanded President Nicolás Maduro stop sending gang members and migrants to the U.S., halt drug trafficking and the return of former U.S. assets nationalized decades ago. He has also privately pressured the Venezuelan leader to step down.
Venezuela has rejected the U.S. demands, calling the moves against ships serving its oil sector illegal. About 70% of Venezuela’s oil exports rely on the fleet of sanctioned vessels that is increasingly being targeted by the Trump administration, and the U.S. actions strike at the heart of Maduro’s grip on power by threatening oil revenue vital to the regime.
The Bella 1’s registered owner is Istanbul-based Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises S.A., according to shipping data and analytics provider Kpler. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The vessel was one of three crude carriers that were heading to Venezuela, but turned around last week to avoid detection, one U.S. official said.
In the separate operation Saturday, the Coast Guard boarded a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker named the Centuries that had been docked in Venezuela, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem . The Centuries wasn’t included on sanctions lists from the U.S., U.K., European Union or the United Nations, according to Kpler.
Anna Kelly , a White House spokeswoman, said Saturday night in a social-media post that the Centuries “was a falsely flagged vessel operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil and fund the narcoterrorist Maduro regime.”
The apprehension of the Centuries “suggests that the U.S. is using an expansive concept of sanctioned tankers in enforcing its policy, and that it is treating all tankers carrying Venezuelan oil as potentially subject to seizure,” said Francisco Rodriguez , a Venezuela analyst at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “This escalates U.S. policy into a de facto total naval blockade of Venezuelan oil exports, which would have major negative effects on the Venezuelan economy,” he said.
The Centuries’ registered owner, Hong Kong-based Centuries Shipping, didn’t immediately respond to calls seeking comment. The ship had loaded 1.8 million barrels of crude oil at Venezuela’s Jose terminal and had been signaling its destination as Malaysia at the point it was intercepted, one of the officials said.
The U.S. took control of another U.S.-sanctioned tanker named the Skipper earlier this month. It has been heading toward the Texas coast under U.S. control.
Write to Costas Paris at costas.paris@wsj.com and Shelby Holliday at shelby.holliday@wsj.com
