Reuters: The US Coast Guard is waiting for more forces to seize the Venezuelan oil tanker
The US Coast Guard is awaiting the arrival of more forces to attack and seize an oil tanker linked to Venezuela that it has been chasing since Sunday, British media reported.
According to RCO News Agency, this oil tanker, which the marine groups have ideified as “Bella 1”, refused to allow the coast guard to eer it. This means that the action will likely be assigned to one of only 2 specialist teams known as Maritime Security Response Teams, which can eer ships under these conditions, including by landing by helicopter.
Reuters reported, citing a US official and a source familiar with the matter: “The multi-day manhu highlights the mismatch between the desire of the administration of US Preside Donald Trump to seize embargoed tankers near Venezuela and the limited resources of the Coast Guard, the agency that mainly conducts the operation.”
Unlike the US Navy, the Coast Guard can take law enforceme actions, including the ery and seizure of vessels subject to US sanctions.
Earlier this moh, Trump ordered a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers eering and leaving Venezuela, in Washington’s latest move to increase pressure on Venezuelan Preside Nicolas Maduro.
The Coast Guard has seized two oil tankers near Venezuela in rece weeks. After the first seizure, on December 10, US Attorney General Pam Bundy released a 45-second video showing two helicopters approaching a ship and armed men in disguise landing on it.
“Coast Guard officials aboard the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford were part of a maritime security response team and were too far away from Bella 1 at the time to conduct the seizure,” said a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“There are limited teams trained for these types of seizures,” said Corey Ranselm, executive director of Dryad Global’s maritime security group and formerly of the US Coast Guard.
The US Departme of Homeland Security has yet to comme, and Reuters could not determine why the Coast Guard did not seize the ship.
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