The United States is pursuing a ship in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday, which was approaching Venezuela as part of the blockade imposed by Washington on oil tankers associated with Caracas, according to U.S. media reports.
Media reported that the ship is the oil tanker "Bella 1," which has been under U.S. sanctions since 2024 due to its connections with Iran.
According to the specialized site "Tanker Trackers," the ship was en route to Venezuela and was not carrying any cargo.
A U.S. official told NBC network anonymously, "The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing a sanctioned ship (...) involved in Venezuela's illegal circumvention of the sanctions. It is flying a false flag and is subject to a judicial seizure order."
According to the "New York Times," the U.S. forces approached the ship late on Saturday and attempted to intercept it after obtaining an order from a federal judge, but the ship continued on its way.
On Tuesday, the United States announced a maritime blockade on sanctioned oil tankers headed to and from Venezuela, and has so far detained two ships accused of transporting Venezuelan oil.
Venezuelan oil has been under a U.S. ban since 2019 and is sold at a lower price than market, especially to China.
To justify the American ban, President Donald Trump said that Venezuela uses the black gold to fund "drug trafficking, terrorism, murder, and kidnapping operations."
Caracas denies any involvement in drug trafficking, affirming that Washington is seeking to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro to take over its oil reserves.
