US seizes 2 oil tankers linked to Venezuela, including one tied to Hezbollah

US also selectively removing sanctions to enable oil sales; vessel Bella 1 was sanctioned by US in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for company linked to Lebanese terror group

The United States seized two sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela, including one also connected to Hezbollah, in back-to-back actions in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea, officials said Wednesday, and is removing sanctions to enable the shipping and sale of oil from the South American country to markets worldwide.

The action was part of US President Donald Trump’s aggressive push to dictate oil flows in the Americas and force Venezuela’s socialist government to become an ally.

The two ship seizures come just days after US military forces conducted a surprise nighttime raid on Venezuela’s capital of Caracas and captured then-president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, whom President Donald Trump’s administration has accused of partnering with drug traffickers.

The Trump administration is now “selectively” removing sanctions to enable the shipping and sale of Venezuelan oil to global markets, according to an outline of the policies published Wednesday by the Energy Department.

US European Command announced the seizure of the merchant vessel Bella 1 for “violations of US sanctions” in a social media post on Wednesday. The US had been pursuing the tanker since last month after it tried to evade a US blockade on sanctioned oil vessels around Venezuela.

It was empty, but Washington says it has been used to transport sanctioned Venezuelan oil. The ship was sanctioned by the US in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.

The US operation was supported by Britain’s Royal Air Force and one of its military vessels, which British Defense Secretary John Healey said was part of “global efforts to crack down on sanctions busting.”

Then US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem revealed that US forces also took control of the tanker Sophia in the Caribbean. Noem said in a social media post that both ships were “either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it.”

Noem said that both ships are part of a large “ghost fleet” of sanctioned vessels that carry oil from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela in defiance of Western sanctions, mostly to customers in Asia.

The oil sales from the lifted sanctions are slated to begin immediately, with the sale of 30 million to 50 million barrels from the South American country.

The US government said the sales “will continue indefinitely” with the proceeds settling in US-controlled accounts at “globally recognized banks.” The money would then be disbursed to the US and Venezuelan populations at the “discretion” of Trump’s government.

Since the arrest raid in Caracas, officials in Trump’s Republican administration have said that they intend to continue to seize sanctioned vessels connected to the country.

“We are enforcing American laws with regards to oil sanctions,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC on Sunday. “We go to court. We get a warrant. We seize those boats with oil. And that will continue.”

The US military seized the Bella 1 and subsequently handed over control of it to law enforcement officials, said a US official who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

It was cruising across the Atlantic, nearing the Caribbean on December 15, when it abruptly turned and changed its heading north, toward Europe. The change in direction came days after the first US tanker seizure of a ship called the Skipper, on December 10, after it had left Venezuela carrying a cargo of oil.

The US Coast Guard attempted to board it in the Caribbean in December as it headed for Venezuela. The ship refused boarding and headed across the Atlantic. US European Command confirmed that the US Coast Guard cutter Munro tracked the ship ahead of its seizure “pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court” in a social media post.

During this time, the Bella 1 was renamed Marinera and flagged to Russia, shipping databases show. The US official also confirmed that the ship’s crew had painted a Russian flag on the side of the hull.

Earlier Wednesday, open-source maritime tracking sites showed its position as between Scotland and Iceland, traveling north. The US official also confirmed the ship was in the North Atlantic.

Flight tracking websites showed several U-28A US special operations aircraft landing at Wick John O’Groats Airport on the northern tip of Scotland, before flying further north toward Iceland on Wednesday. P8 Poseidon submarine-hunting aircraft and KC-135 refueling planes were also seen on tracking websites, heading to the area near the tanker.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said before the seizure that it was “following with concern the anomalous situation that has developed around the Russian oil tanker Marinera.”

Immediately following news of the seizure, Russia’s Ministry of Transport confirmed the boarding in a statement and noted that “no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states,” citing the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Maduro appeared in court this week in New York, where he protested his capture and pleaded not guilty to the federal drug trafficking charges the Trump administration used to justify removing him from power in Venezuela. Maduro’s lawyer said he expects to contest the legality of his “military abduction.”

“I am here kidnapped since January 3, Saturday,” Maduro said in Spanish in court on Monday. “I was captured at my home in Caracas.”