The US may act to seize a Russian-flagged oil tanker heading across the Atlantic to Europe, CBS News, the BBC's media partner in the US, reported.
Two US officials told the broadcaster that American forces plan to intercept the ship, which historically has carried Venezuelan crude oil and is thought to be between Scotland and Iceland.
President Donald Trump said last month that he was ordering a "blockade" of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, a move the government there described as "theft".
Ahead of his seizure of the country's former leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump had repeatedly accused Venezuela's government of using ships to bring drugs to American shores.
The US coastguard tried to board the Bella 1 last month in the Caribbean when it was believed to be heading towards Venezuela.
