US contemplates sending more resources to forcibly board oil tanker near Venezuela
(CNN) — The United States hasn’t given up its pursuit of the massive, rusted oil tanker it chased into international waters near Venezuela last weekend, and officials are now contemplating moving additional resources into the area to forcibly board the ship, people familiar with the matter said.
Officials no longer expect the Bella 1 to return to the country to load up with oil as the U.S. military and Coast Guard chase it, and the people familiar with the matter said it was possible the administration would decide to abandon its effort to seize the ship. But for now, the U.S. is contemplating sending a specialized Maritime Special Response Team with experience in boarding vessels that do not submit to seize control of it.
The White House has said the Bella 1 is a “dark fleet vessel” covered by U.S. sanctions that is sailing under a false flag. Officials said it was under a judicial order that would allow for its seizure.
It refused to stop when the Coast Guard tried to interdict it last weekend, instead making a U-turn and sailing into the Atlantic Ocean. It has been on the run ever since.
The pursuit stems from President Donald Trump’s order of a “blockade” on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. Administration officials believe squeezing President Nicolas Maduro’s main economic lifeline is the best path to potentially ousting the authoritarian leader.
While Trump has ordered a massive military buildup in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, he has so far stopped short of giving the final order on land strikes there, despite saying repeatedly for months they’ll be coming soon.
During a Christmas Eve phone call to troops aboard the USS Gerald Ford, which Trump recently ordered deployed to the Caribbean Sea, Trump called the region an “interesting place” to be, and said the U.S. would be “going after the land.”
For now, however, officials said the priority is enforcing the restrictions on Venezuelan oil, including the ship interceptions that have led some tankers to avoid the region.
While the U.S. is still pursuing the Bella 1, there isn’t a major rush to board the ship as it continues to sail away from Venezuela, one official said. The ship is currently empty.
That’s in contrast with the other two tankers successfully intercepted by the Coast Guard — the Skipper and the Centuries. The U.S. piloted both to Texas and is planning to seize their oil cargoes.
Officials aren’t sure why the crew of the Bella 1 did not stop the ship and submit to the Coast Guard’s efforts to interdict it, as the previous two ships did.
The ship has been linked to sanctioned Iranian oil and various Iranian proxy groups.
The-CNN-Wire
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