The latest vessel to be targeted by the United States in its pressure campaign on Venezuela was sending distress signals as it headed northeast from the Caribbean into the Atlantic.

Just a day after the United States seized an oil tanker near Venezuela, another operation is underway. It would mark the third seizure in under two weeks.

The US has pursued a third oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, intensifying a blockade that the Trump administration hopes will cut off a vital economic lifeline for the country and isolate the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

The seizure comes comes days after President Trump announced a "blockade" of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

U.S. forces on Saturday stopped a second merchant vessel off the coast of Venezuela in international waters, two American officials told The Associated Press. The tanker stopped voluntarily and allowed U.

The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker involved in transporting oil from Venezuela, according to three U.S. officials, part of an accelerating effort by the Trump administration to block ships from moving the country’s oil.

The US is still in pursuit of a third oil tanker near Venezuela, according to a US official, as President Donald Trump intensifies an oil blockade on Nicolás Maduro’s government.

U.S. forces on Saturday stopped an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela for the second time in less than two weeks as President Donald Trump continues to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.