US authorities have seized a third oil tanker linked to Venezuela after a pursuit in the Caribbean Sea, marking the second such seizure by US forces in less than 24 hours.
The 2002-built VLCC Bella 1 was targeted by the US Coast Guard late on Saturday. Three US officials, speaking to the New York Times, said the ship was sailing without a valid national flag, which under international law allows such a vessel to be boarded in international waters.
Different shipping databases list conflicting flag information for the tanker. Some show Bella 1 as Guyana-flagged, others list Panama, and in some records, the flag is recorded as unknown. Data from Equasis names Istanbul-based Louis Marine Shipholding as both owner and manager of the vessel.
US officials also obtained a seizure warrant from a federal magistrate judge, giving them legal authority to take control of the ship. According to those officials, the warrant was issued because of Bella 1’s role in the Iranian oil trade. Its links to Venezuela led separately to its designation on the sanctions list maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the US Department of the Treasury.
The tanker was added to that sanctions list in 2022 under its previous name, Adisa. At the time, the Treasury described the vessel as part of a broad oil smuggling network that channelled revenue to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and Hezbollah.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the crew initially refused a boarding attempt, turning the encounter into a chase before US forces were eventually able to board and seize Bella 1.
Maritime data analytics firm Kpler said the tanker was not carrying any cargo and was heading towards Venezuela to load crude. The company also stated that Bella 1 has a long record of sanctions-evasion activity, including loadings of Iranian and Venezuelan crude, prolonged AIS signal gaps, signal spoofing and ship-to-ship transfers carried out without broadcasts in Asian waters.
This seizure is the third involving a tanker by the United States since President Donald Trump announced what he described as a sweeping blockade targeting sanctioned oil tankers moving into or out of Venezuelan waters.
Early on Saturday, US forces intercepted and boarded the Panama-flagged VLCC Centuries east of Barbados while it was carrying Venezuelan crude. The first of the three tankers, Skipper, was seized on 10 December.
The two most recent operations have taken place even as Venezuela deploys naval escorts for ships transporting oil-related cargo as they leave its ports. In the case of Bella 1, tracking data show that the vessel had not yet entered Venezuelan waters and was sailing without an escort when US forces stopped it.
