The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday tried to intercept an oil tanker linked to Venezuela that is now fleeing away from the Caribbean Sea, according to three U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive operation, days after President Trump said he would crack down on sanctioned vessels involved in the country’s oil trade.
The tanker, called the Bella 1, was en route to pick up oil in Venezuela and was not carrying cargo, according to one of the officials and ship-tracking data, and fled northeast into the Atlantic Ocean. The tanker has been under U.S. sanctions since last year for transporting Iranian oil, which federal authorities say is sold to finance terrorism.
When U.S. forces approached the Bella 1 late on Saturday, it was not flying a valid national flag, the officials said, making it a stateless vessel liable to be boarded at sea under international law.
American authorities had obtained a seizure warrant from a federal magistrate judge, which would allow them to take possession of the ship, two of the officials said. The warrant had been sought because of the Bella 1’s previous involvement in the Iranian oil trade, not because of its links to Venezuela.
But the ship did not submit to being boarded and continued sailing, one of the officials said. A second official referred to the situation as “an active pursuit.”
On Sunday morning, the vessel began broadcasting distress signals to nearby ships, according to radio messages reviewed by The Times and first posted online by a maritime blogger. The messages show the vessel traveling northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, more than 300 miles away from Antigua and Barbuda. By Sunday evening, Bella 1 had sent over 75 alerts.
The Coast Guard had successfully boarded another tanker earlier on Saturday, and the United States had taken possession of a third tanker on Dec. 10 that is now at port in Texas.
