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U.S. Seizes Second Venezuela-Linked Tanker and "Pursues" a Third

US helicopter above crude oil tanker
US forces have boarded a Panama-flagged crude oil tanker in the Caribbean (Homeland Security video)

Published Dec 20, 2025 7:10 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

[Updated] The Trump administration has seized a second Venezuela-linked tanker and launched a "pursuit" targeting a third, according to multiple reports. 

Beginning late Saturday, the U.S. began chasing a third tanker linked to Venezuela's oil exports - the Bella 1, a sanctioned tanker with a past in the Iranian oil trade. Bella 1 was in ballast and approaching Venezuela, and it was the first ship that the U.S. targeted before loading cargo. 

According to TankerTrackers.com, the Bella 1 had an extensive history in two out of the three major "shadow fleet" trade lanes. Over the last four years, she picked up a combined 11 million barrels of Iranian and Venezuelan oil in various loadings, plus another 9.3 million barrels in STS transfers. All of it was bound for China, the leading buyer of "sensitive" crude cargoes. 

Bella 1 declined to submit to a boarding and reversed course, U.S. officials told the New York Times on Sunday - a correction of the  initial report from Bloomberg, which indicated that the vessel had been boarded. The ship is still being pursued by the Coast Guard, according to the Times.

The attempt to board Bella 1 follows just one day after a U.S. Coast Guard boarding team captured the Panama-flagged Centuries, a non-sanctioned tanker flagged in Panama. 

Action follows second American seizure

On Saturday, the U.S. boarded and seized its second crude oil tanker in the Caribbean, coming days after Donald Trump said the U.S. would be blockading Venezuela’s oil industry. The tanker does not appear on the sanction lists of the United States, the EU, the UK, or other authorities.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the boarding, saying the United States has “apprehended an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela.” Reports are that the operation was led by the U.S. Coast Guard, assisted by the Department of War.

The video shows a helicopter approaching the vessel and troops on the deck. The helicopter continues to circle the vessel, which is underway in what appears to be the rising sun. 

 

 

 

The New York Times reports that U.S. troops are aboard to check the vessel’s registry. According to Homeland Security, the vessel is suspected of carrying oil subject to U.S. sanctions.

The tanker, Centuries, is a Panama-registered vessel. Equasis shows the vessel was acquired by a Chinese company, Centuries Shipping, in 2021. It has been registered consistently since then in Panama. The vessel was built in 2001 and has a capacity of 310,000 dwt. 

TankerTrackers.com reports the vessel loaded 1.8 million barrels of Venezuela crude, and that it was at least the vessel’s seventh trip to Venezuela. It appears to be bound for China. Reports suggest that the vessel has not been linked to the Iranian oil trade.

 

 

Trump asserted last week that the administration's intent was to blockade sanctioned tankers in the Venezuela oil trade. Earlier in the week, TankerTrackers.com reported that there were 38 previously-sanctioned sanctioned tankers in the waters around Venezuela, out of a total of more than 70 tankers it was able to identify in the region. The U.S. Treasury can add new vessels to its sanctions list at will, and it designated six additional vessels last week.  

The first tanker seized by American forces, the sanctioned and stateless VLCC Skipper, has now arrived at an anchorage off Galveston. This location puts her firmly in American custody and would be suitable for offloading her seized cargo for onshore storage. The Justice Department holds an active warrant for Skipper's arrest for its past participation in the Iranian oil trade. 

A U.S. official told Axios that the tanker seizures are a new step in a broader strategy to deprive the Maduro regime of revenue. The Pentagon has been destroying suspected drug-running boats out of Venezuela using airstrikes, removing a cash flow stream that allegedly flowed to upper echelons of the military dictatorship. The U.S. has also declared an airspace "closure" over Venezuela, bringing a halt to commercial flights (and the air cargo capacity needed to export Venezuelan gold). Now, with the seizure of tankers, the U.S. is attempting to turn off the biggest tap, while still allowing American oil major Chevron to export its own share of Venezuela's crude. 

"Maduro's losing drug money, losing oil money and losing gold money. He's gonna break," the administration official told Axios. 

This is a breaking story and will be updated when more details are released.