U.S. pursuing third oil tanker as Venezuela hostilities intensify
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A motorcyclist rests beneath a banner supporting President Nicolás Maduro near the El Palito refinery in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, on Dec. 18, 2025. Photo: Jesus Vargas/Getty Images
The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing a third tanker Sunday as part of President Trump's military campaign against oil ships servicing Venezuela, two sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: The planned seizure of the tanker, which is on the U.S. sanctions list for rogue oil vessels, was another sign Trump wants to squeeze the oil-rich nation's economy in an effort to force strongman Nicolás Maduro from power.
The big picture: The Panamanian-flagged Bella 1 was not filled with oil at the time it was pursued and was on its way to load up in Venezuela, according to one of the sources familiar with the action.
- The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Bella 1 in 2024 for allegedly transporting cargo that enriched the terrorist group Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. Bloomberg first reported the planned seizure.
- The other two vessels interdicted by the U.S. were each filled with about 1.8 million to 1.9 million barrels of oil, cargoes worth roughly $95 million each, according to experts.
- The Skipper, seized Dec. 10, was on the U.S. sanctions list. The Centuries, boarded Saturday, was not.
Between the lines: A senior administration official said the U.S. received permission from the government of Panama to board the Panamanian-flagged Centuries and Bella 1.
- Under the Salas-Becker Agreement of 2002, the two countries have worked collaboratively to crack down on sanctioned vessels.
- Panama's president, José Raúl Mulino, is also a U.S. ally and dislikes Maduro, the official said, pointing out that Mulino presented a dress to anti-Maduro activist Maria Corina Machado in Oslo where she was awarded the Nobel Prize.
- A source told Axios that Bella 1 was flying under a false flag as the U.S. pursued it.
Zoom out: The pressure on Venezuela, seen by the U.S. as propping up Cuba's regime, coincides with Trump's new National Security Strategy to focus on dominating the Western Hemisphere. But it also has a second-order effect targeting Iran.
- Iran and Venezuela share a ghost armada that transport their crude (including oil-diluting diluent in Iran's case). They cooperate on military drone technology and Iran has alleged terrorist agents in Venezuela, according to Jason Brodsky, policy director for the nonprofit United Against a Nuclear Iran.
Zoom in: The Coast Guard came into contact with Bella 1 early Sunday but briefly decided not to continue interdicting the vessel, according to sources who had different accounts explaining why.
- Both sources agreed that the Coast Guard then resumed pursuit at a certain point later in the day.
- The Bella 1 had not been boarded as of Sunday evening, and it was not immediately clear if the pursuit continued.
- "It doesn't matter anyway," one of the sources said. "It can't help Venezuela anymore. It's an empty vessel. And we can get it when we want."
The intrigue: Administration officials won't disclose many details about the interdictions of any of the ships or the disposition of the oil in the first two seizures.
- Skipper was boarded and was seized along with its oil under a court order based on the fact that it had been sanctioned for carrying oil that financed Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and the terrorist group Hezbollah.
- The fate of the Centuries vessel and its oil are even less clear. The U.S. had no court order to seize it, but Trump administration officials say the U.S. has the right to go after most oil shipments from Venezuela, whose state-run oil company has been under sanction since 2019.
- Trump last week declared a "blockade" of sanctioned oil vessels and labeled Venezuela's government a Foreign Terrorist Organization. In 2020, his administration indicted Maduro as a narcoterrorist, and it recently designated the cartel Maduro allegedly runs as a terrorist group.
What they're saying: Venezuela's government has long denied U.S. accusations of terrorist activities on its soil and drug trafficking. It has denounced Trump's pressure campaign as a "neo-colonial" oil grab.
- Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said in an official statement that the country "denounces and rejects the theft and hijacking of a new private vessel transporting oil, as well as the forced disappearance of its crew, committed by military personnel of the United States of America in international waters."
Go deeper: Maduro tests Trump with "Plan B" oil tanker strategy
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.
