US seizes third oil tanker off Venezuela's coast - Bloomberg
Illustrative photo: The third tanker was the vessel Bella 1 (Getty Images)
On Sunday, December 21, the US seized a third oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, as President Donald Trump intensified the oil blockade against Nicolás Maduro's government, reports Bloomberg.
According to a Bloomberg source, the tanker involved is Bella 1, which is under US sanctions. A Panamanian-flagged vessel was reportedly headed to Venezuela to load oil.
Bloomberg notes that this seizure follows the capture of the Centuries supertanker early Saturday morning, December 20, and another tanker, Skipper, on December 10.
Regarding yesterday's incident, Centuries was not listed on the public US sanctions list. Sources said the tanker sailed under a Panamanian flag, while the oil rights belong to a Chinese company.
Shortly after, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly wrote on X that the tanker carried oil from PDVSA, which is under US sanctions.
In response, Venezuela's Vice President and Minister of Petroleum Delcy Rodríguez condemned the "theft and kidnapping" of the tanker, calling the move a "serious act of piracy" by the US government.
Tensions between the US and Venezuela
On December 16, President Trump announced a full blockade on sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuelan waters.
Media outlets explain that Trump is seeking to cut off the main revenue source of the Venezuelan regime and increase pressure on President Nicolás Maduro.
Oil industry experts say that if Venezuela cannot export oil, storage tanks will fill with unsold reserves, forcing state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) to begin shutting down oil wells.
Yesterday, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned that the US will continue seizing tankers leaving Venezuela and emphasized that this will continue until the Maduro regime returns "all stolen American assets."
In addition to the blockade, Trump designated the Maduro government as a foreign terrorist organization, accusing it of involvement in drug trafficking. He also recently stated that he does not rule out a future military campaign against Venezuela.
