The USA has tried to intercept a third oil tanker linked to Venezuela in less than two weeks, with the Coast Guard reportedly in “active pursuit” of a vessel in international waters in the Caribbean Sea, according to American officials cited by Reuters and other outlets.
US officials claimed the ship is sailing under a false flag and is therefore subject to a judicial seizure order, describing it as part of Venezuela’s “dark fleet” used to evade Washington’s unilateral sanctions.
The vessel has not yet been boarded, but if successful, the operation would mark the third interdiction since December 10, when US forces seized the tanker Skipper, followed by another vessel, Centuries, on Saturday.
The latest seizure attempt comes just days after President Donald Trump announced a total and complete economic blockade of oil tankers under illegal US sanctions entering or leaving Venezuela.
Officials have yet to identify the vessel, but according to media reports, the tanker now being chased is the Bella 1, which has previously been sanctioned for transporting Iranian oil.
US officials said the ship refused to submit to boarding and continued sailing, prompting what one official described as an “active pursuit.”
The escalating seizures are part of Trump’s broader pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which has included a significant US military buildup in the region and dozens of American strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats since September 2025.
DEA drug trafficking profits remain in the US banking system
Venezuela has denounced the actions as piracy and warned that the seizures amount to economic warfare aimed at strangling its oil-dependent economy. Caracas has accused Washington of seeking regime change to gain control of the country’s vast oil reserves.
Russia and China have both warned that the growing US military activity risks triggering wider instability, urging restraint and respect for international law.
RT. com / ABC Flash Point News 2025.
International waters should ring some bells. What happens in International Waters stays in International Waters. Open season.
Venezuela has been given the ball, lets see what Russia, China, and Venezuela do with it. Trump cannot legally start a war under these conditions. Its the same reason Israel got away with seizing the humanitarian flotilla Greta was part of.
Hopefully state hired mercenaries are protecting the oil tankers avoiding hostile US military seizures and against the USA stealing their properties.
I heard someone suggest that the Wagner group might start providing security to oil tankers around the world, and if captured after repulsing any illegal attacks on commercial vessels, there would be a trade between Russia and the countries from any captured mercenaries from Europe, Oceania the Caribbean Islands, the Middle East, Somalia, and/or the North American continent.
PLACE HIDDEN EXPLOSIVES ON SHIPS TO EXPLODE ONCE SHIPS CREW ARE TAKEN OFF AND THE EXPLODE WITH AMERICAN PIRATES ON BOARD. NOTHING TO LOSE AS PIRATE COUNTRY WILL NOT GET STOLEN LOOT!!
What they have to do is simple. They must put a well-equipped Chinese Army/or Venezuelan Army company (108 men) aboard, armed with three 9K38 Iglas to shoot down the American helicopters, and one or two 20 or 30-mm cannons, with tungsten-hardened-tip rounds to shoot at the Coast Guard patrol boat.
’ll teach them a lesson. The more diplomatic, in other words, the softer you are, the harder the American psychopaths are gonna push.