What do we know about the ship being pursued by the US?published at 10:31 GMT
10:31 GMT
Joshua Cheetham
BBC Verify journalist
Image source, Håkon RimmereidImage caption,
The US has not named the vessel it is pursuing but it is reportedly Bella 1 – seen in this library picture
This morning we’re continuing to investigate the “active pursuit” of an oil tanker by the United States Coast Guard off the coast of Venezuela.
The White House has confirmed “a sanctioned dark fleet vessel” that is accused of being part of “Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion” is being pursued but hasn’t named the ship. US media is saying it’s the Bella 1. We’re working to confirm all we can about the vessel.
The ship is registered to a company based in Turkey, Louis Marine Shipholding ENT, and is under US sanctions.
Its onboard tracker signal was last picked up five days ago, more than 200km (120 miles) north-east of Antigua and Barbuda.
Tracking data reported it was travelling from Rajaei port in Iran to Willemstad on the Caribbean island of Curacao.
TankerTrackers.com have told the BBC Verify that the vessel was not carrying any cargo at the time of the seizure.We are also looking at which country’s flag it’s registered to.
It is listed as “unknown” on shipping database Equasis and on ship-tracking sites like MarineTraffic it’s listed as Guyana-flagged.