Coast Guard Intensifies Its Pursuit of Oil Tanker

 

The U.S. Coast Guard's intensified pursuit and seizure of oil tankers linked to Venezuela and Iran is part of an aggressive sanctions enforcement campaign.

 

The potential backlash includes diplomatic crises, retaliatory seizures of U.S. or allied vessels, legal challenges regarding operations in international waters, and escalation of military tensions.

 

Potential Backlash Implications

 

    Heightened Diplomatic Tensions: The actions have drawn international condemnation, particularly from Venezuela, which has labeled the seizures as "blatant theft" and "international piracy". This has escalated an already tense diplomatic situation and involved other global powers like China and Russia.

    Retaliation and Regional Instability: There is a significant risk of tit-for-tat retaliation. Iran, for example, has a history of seizing Western or U.S.-linked vessels in strategic waterways (like the Persian Gulf) in response to U.S. actions. This could disrupt global shipping lanes and further destabilize an already volatile region.

    Legal Scrutiny and Sovereignty Disputes: Seizing vessels on the high seas, outside of territorial waters, is a rare and legally complex action. Critics, including some U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists, have raised questions about the legality of the operations, especially the use of military force without explicit congressional authorization and the lack of publicly provided evidence for all allegations (e.g., funding "narco-terrorism").

    Resource Strain and Operational Risk: The U.S. Coast Guard has limited specialized teams (Maritime Security Response Teams) for such high-risk boardings. Prolonged standoffs, like the multi-day pursuit of the tanker Bella 1, strain these limited resources and increase the risk of a dangerous confrontation if a crew resists seizure.

    Economic and Market Volatility: Oil markets have already reacted cautiously to the developments, with potential for increased oil prices if shipping disruptions become widespread.

    Humanitarian and Political Concerns: The pressure campaign is part of a broader effort to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Critics argue that the actions, including a "blockade," exacerbate Venezuela's economic and humanitarian crises and question the motivation behind seizing oil investments lost by U.S. companies years ago.

 

The situation remains fluid, with U.S. officials continuing their active pursuit of "dark fleet" vessels as part of the ongoing pressure campaign.

 

 

“A Coast Guard vessel was slicing through the Atlantic Ocean, with its target in sight just a half mile away, when a realization set in. The crew was going to need backup, U.S. officials said.

 

The Bella 1, an oil tanker far larger than any Coast Guard ship, has been fleeing the U.S. blockade of sanctioned vessels heading in and out of Venezuela. Sanctioned for allegedly shipping oil to U.S.-designated terrorist organizations, the Bella 1 made an unusual move last weekend, executing a U-turn, refusing to be boarded and racing away from Venezuela.

 

Now, more than five days into the pursuit, the Coast Guard and U.S. military are assembling more manpower and weapons to forcibly board the vessel, the U.S. officials said. Among the units they are moving to the area is a Maritime Special Response Team, an elite force trained to board hostile ships, the officials said.

 

The hunt for the Bella 1 marks potentially the most dangerous moment yet for the U.S. in its nascent quarantine of the Venezuelan oil industry, part of a campaign to squeeze the country's leader, Nicolas Maduro, whom the Trump administration accuses of flooding the U.S. with drugs.

 

Maduro denies the charges and accuses Washington of naval piracy and trying to steal his country's natural resources.

 

The U.S. military has built up considerable firepower in the Caribbean for the first time in decades, conducting deadly strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs and now targeting oil tankers.

 

The U.S. has seized two tankers carrying Venezuelan oil since Dec. 10, aiming at Maduro's most important source of revenue. Neither crew resisted.

 

It isn't publicly known why the Bella 1 is declining the Coast Guard's demands. The Bella 1's owner, Turkey-based Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises, didn't return calls seeking comment.

 

The U.S. has sanctioned it for allegedly carrying black-market Iranian oil on behalf of U.S.-designated terrorist organizations aligned with Tehran, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and the Houthis, the rebels who have controlled swaths of Yemen for more than a decade. The U.S. Treasury says the Bella 1 has links to the Quds Force, the foreign arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

 

"They are probably getting orders from somewhere," Rear Adm. William Baumgartner, a former judge-advocate general in the Coast Guard, said of the unusual behavior of the ship's crew.

 

The U.S. says the Bella 1 is part of a vast fleet of aging oil tankers, with murky ownership, that connect U.S.-sanctioned oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela to buyers in China, Cuba and India.

 

The Bella 1 has long used tactics associated with the so-called shadow fleet, including switching off its transponders -- which alert other ships to its location -- and conducting dangerous ship-to-ship oil transfers on the high seas, according to Kpler, a tanker tracking firm. Those sorts of ship-to-ship transfers, U.S. officials say, are usually done to conceal the oil's illicit point of origin. Like other shadow-fleet ships, the Bella 1 also sailed under a false flag, saying it was registered in Guyana when it isn't, U.S. officials said.

 

Before heading toward Venezuela, empty of oil, the Bella 1 loaded crude in Iran in early September, Kpler said, and then turned off its transponder near the Strait of Hormuz. It went dark for two months, and when it came back online close to the same spot, it was no longer carrying oil, Kpler said, suggesting it had unloaded the cargo to other vessels.

 

The Bella 1 then headed west, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and into the open Atlantic in early December, according to Kpler. It signaled a destination of Curacao, just off the coast of Venezuela, but then reversed course on Dec. 15, Kpler said, after the U.S. seized its first ship of the quarantine. It then turned back toward Venezuela, but made another U-turn when engaged by a Coast Guard vessel.

 

There is no rush to conduct an operation against the Bella 1, a slow-moving vessel that cannot outrun U.S. forces now that its location is known, U.S. officials said. That has given the U.S. time to deploy the appropriate units, explaining why the chase has stretched over several days.” [1]

 

1. World News: Coast Guard Intensifies Its Pursuit of Oil Tanker. Paris, Costas; Holliday, Shelby.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 26 Dec 2025: A6.