The U.S. Coast Guard is “actively pursuing” a sanctioned vessel in international waters off Venezuela, two U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.
“The United States Coast Guard is actively pursuing a sanctioned Black Fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion program. It is flying a false flag and is subject to a judicial seizure order,” one of the officials said.
The ship, known as Bella 1, was placed on the U.S. sanctions list in June 2024, according to a person familiar with the list.
The ship was sanctioned by counterterrorism authorities for its involvement in the network of Houthi financial facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal, according to the source.
Ghost Fleet ships generally do not operate exclusively for a single country, the person added.
If captured, it will be the third ship intercepted by the United States in the Caribbean. On Saturday, the Defense Department interdicted a second tanker that the White House said was carrying authorized oil.
Members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), a political and economic bloc, condemned the “theft and seizure” of the second ship carrying Venezuelan oil by the United States, saying it had “illegally deprived its crew of freedom.” ALBA members include Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Grenada and Saint Lucia.
“ALBA denounces the fact that this act reveals a deliberate intention to plunder the natural resources of a sovereign country and sets an extremely serious precedent for the region and for the international system as a whole,” the group said in a statement on Sunday.
The group called the ban an “act of piracy” and an “unconscionable act of aggression” in violation of the United Nations and international law, and demanded an end to such acts.
Earlier this month, a first sanctioned boat, known as Skipper, was seized off the coast of Venezuela.
Tension between the United States and Venezuela has escalated, with the Trump administration carrying out strikes against suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific.
President Donald Trump did not rule out the possibility of war with Venezuela last week.
Marlene Lenthang And Nostrils contributed.
