U.S. Pursues Third Sanctioned Oil Tanker Near Venezuela, Officials Say

Reuters

U.S. military personnel conduct an apron inspection near U.S. Marine Corps F-35B fighter jets at the former Roosevelt Roads naval base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, 19 December 2025.

The United States Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, U.S. officials told Reuters on Sunday. If successful, this would mark the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks.

“The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned ‘dark fleet’ vessel hat is part of Venezuela's illegal sanctions evasion,” a U.S. official said. The official added that the vessel is operating under a false flag and is subject to a judicial seizure order.

Another U.S. official confirmed that the tanker is under sanctions but noted that it has not yet been boarded. Interceptions, the official explained, can take various forms, including close monitoring by naval or aerial assets. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not disclose the tanker’s name or its precise location.

The pursuit follows an announcement last week by U.S. President Donald Trump declaring a “blockade” on all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela. The move is part of a broader pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, which has included an increased U.S. military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela. According to officials, at least 100 people have been killed in the strikes.

Earlier seizures targeted oil tankers operating on the black market and supplying oil to countries under sanctions, Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said in a television interview on Sunday.

“These were black market ships,” Hassett said on CBS’s Face the Nation, adding that the seizures are unlikely to affect oil prices in the United States.

Source: Reuters



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