The US Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful.
“The United States Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion,” a US official said. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.”
Another official said the tanker was under sanctions but added that it had not been boarded so far and that interceptions can take different forms – including sailing or flying close to vessels of concern.
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The officials, who were speaking on the condition of anonymity, did not give a specific location for the operation or name the vessel being pursued.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. US President Donald Trump last week announced a “blockade” of all oil tankers under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela.
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Trump’s pressure campaign on Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near the South American nation. At least 100 people have been killed in the attacks.
The first two oil tankers seized were operating on the black market and providing oil to countries under sanctions, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said in a television interview on Sunday.