The U.S. Coast Guard is awaiting reinforcements before potentially boarding and seizing a Venezuela-linked tanker it has been pursuing since Sunday, according to officials.
The Coast Guard is awaiting specialized Maritime Security Response Teams to board the Bella 1 after it refused inspections. These elite units, capable of helicopter rappelling, are necessary as the agency’s limited resources struggle to meet the Trump administration’s aggressive seizure goals.
Unlike the U.S. Navy, the Coast Guard can carry out law enforcement actions, including boarding and seizing vessels that are under U.S. sanctions.
Trump earlier this month ordered a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in Washington’s latest move to increase pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The Coast Guard has in recent weeks seized two oil tankers near Venezuela. After the first seizure, on Dec. 10, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted a 45-second video showing two helicopters approaching a vessel and armed individuals in camouflage rappelling onto it.
The White House said that the United States was still in “active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion.”
Limited Resources
The United States has assembled a massive military force in the Caribbean, including an aircraft carrier, fighter jets and other warships. Ospreys and additional MC-130J Commando II aircraft arrived in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico in recent days, according to a separate source.
The Coast Guard has far fewer resources in place.
The service has long said that it lacks the resources to effectively carry out a growing list of missions, including search and rescue operations and drug seizures.
In November, the Coast Guard announced that it had seized about 49,000 pounds of drugs worth more than $362 million in the eastern Pacific.
For the fiscal year ending September 2026, the Coast Guard requested $14.6 billion in funding. It will receive an additional $25 billion through a sweeping spending and tax legislation, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
