US intercepts third oil tanker off Venezuela coast in less than two weeks

• Second crisis: US seizes new tanker near Venezuela’s coast, days after Trump declared naval blockade of country; video
• During the Mercosur meeting: Lula says armed intervention in Venezuela would be a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ and a ‘dangerous precedent’ for the world

The Bella 1 tanker, which sails under the Panamanian flag and is under U.S. sanctions, was heading to Venezuela to load oil, according to a source interviewed by Bloomberg who spoke on condition of anonymity. The interception followed the approach of the supertanker Centuries early Saturday morning, in addition to the seizure of the Skipper on December 10. Like the Bella 1, the Centuries also operated under the Panamanian flag.

According to members of the US government and the US oil industry, cited by the US press, the Centuries ship was boarded in international waters by the US Coast Guard, with the support of the country’s army. According to the Associated Press, there was no resistance from the crew. The ship, however, is not on the Treasury Department’s sanctions list and was carrying Venezuelan oil to Asia. Caracas called the seizure “international terrorism” and received support from Iran, another country targeted by the United States.

Along with military pressure against the Maduro regime, in the form of a mobilization of 15,000 troops, warships and fighter jets, the Trump administration seeks to stifle Caracas’ main source of revenue. If Venezuela is not allowed to export oil, storage reservoirs could quickly reach maximum capacity, forcing state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) to reduce or even stop production from several wells.

On the 10th, the US military seized the Skipper, which is on the Treasury Department’s sanctions list for having previously transported oil from Iran, another target of the US energy embargo.

Days later, Trump declared a naval blockade of Venezuela, promising to intercept and take to U.S. ports any sanctioned vessel that approached the country. Since the order’s adoption, the Centuries was the first oil tanker intercepted, even without being on Washington’s restricted list. The blockade was described as “irrational” by Caracas.

After the blockade was announced, the Venezuelan government ordered its navy to escort ships carrying oil products, increasing the risk of a confrontation with the United States, according to New York Times sources. Between last Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, for example, several ships left Venezuela’s east coast under naval escort.

• Questionable speech: Trump justifies the siege of Venezuela by the fight against drugs, but clearly highlights his economic interest

Earlier this week, Trump said the Venezuelans “took all our oil” and the United States “now wants it all back.” It seems to refer to the process of nationalization of the country’s fields, started in the 1970s and consolidated by Hugo Chávez, Maduro’s predecessor. Until then, American companies were the main operators in the local energy sector, and today there is only one left, Chevron, which operates under a special license from Washington.

Trump also said that Venezuela is “completely surrounded by the largest fleet ever assembled in the history of South America” ​​and that the US military contingent in the Caribbean “will only increase” until Venezuela returns “to the United States of America all the oil, land and other assets that they previously stole from us.”

First oil tanker seized

The tanker Skipper, seized on the 10th, had been part of the clandestine fleet for years and was already well known to American authorities for its role in the Iranian oil trade. Furthermore, according to a New York Times analysis based on satellite images and photographs, the ship may have falsified its location in recent months, publishing false data before its seizure.

Between late October and the 4th, the ship’s radar indicated that it was anchored in the Atlantic Ocean, near Guyana and Suriname. However, the New York Times discovered that the ship was actually hundreds of miles away, near Venezuela. It would be the ship’s first trip to the South American country since 2023.

Data provided by TankerTrackers.com suggests the ship frequently transported oil from countries subject to U.S. sanctions. Ship tracking shows several trips to Iran and Venezuela over the past two years. The ship, according to Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, delivered Iranian oil to Syria in 2024, when the country was under the control of Bashar al-Assad, helping his government prolong the civil war.