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U.S. military forces are tracking an oil tanker linked to Iran and Venezuela after the vessel refused orders to stop and allow boarding, according to U.S. officials.
The tanker, Bella 1, was spotted in the Atlantic Ocean after making a series of abrupt course changes while operating near Venezuela. The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. military commanders said the ship is significantly larger than any Coast Guard cutter and initially declined to comply when approached.
More than five days into the operation, U.S. authorities are preparing for a possible forced boarding. That includes deploying a Maritime Special Response Team, a Coast Guard unit trained to board noncompliant or hostile vessels.
The pursuit is part of the Trump administration’s effort to enforce sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry and cut off revenue tied to President Nicolas Maduro’s government. U.S. officials have accused Maduro’s administration of narcotics trafficking and of using oil exports to finance illicit activity.
The Bella 1 is sanctioned for allegedly transporting Iranian oil on behalf of groups designated by the United States as terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah and the Houthis. The Treasury Department has also linked the vessel to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force.
Since December, U.S. authorities have seized multiple tankers carrying Venezuelan oil. In those cases, crews complied with U.S. demands and the ships were escorted to American ports without incident, making the Bella 1’s refusal to cooperate unusual.
Retired Rear Adm. William Baumgartner, a former Coast Guard judge advocate general, said such resistance may indicate the crew is acting under outside direction.
The vessel is owned by Turkey-based Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises, which did not respond to requests for comment.
Maritime tracking firm Kpler said the Bella 1 has engaged in practices commonly associated with shadow fleets, including disabling its transponder, conducting ship-to-ship oil transfers at sea, and falsely claiming registration under a foreign flag.
Kpler data show the tanker loaded crude oil in Iran in early September and later turned off its tracking system near the Strait of Hormuz. When the ship reappeared weeks later, the oil was no longer on board, suggesting it had been transferred to other vessels.
U.S. officials said there is no immediate urgency to board the ship. The tanker is moving slowly and cannot evade U.S. forces now that it is being tracked.
If the vessel is boarded, the United States would act under a judicial seizure order and international maritime law, escorting the tanker to U.S. waters. A similar operation last week resulted in the seizure of the tanker Centuries, which is being sent to Galveston, Texas, where its cargo will be unloaded.