Post by : Bianca Qureshi
The United States has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean after tracking it for more than two weeks, US officials confirmed on Wednesday. The operation was part of Washington’s efforts to block Venezuelan oil exports under US sanctions.
The tanker, now named Marinera and previously known as Bella-1, was seized near Iceland. It had earlier escaped a US maritime blockade in the Caribbean and refused US Coast Guard attempts to board it. This is believed to be the first seizure of a Russian-flagged vessel by the US military in recent years.
The US military’s European Command said the vessel was taken for violating US sanctions on Venezuelan oil. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the US blockade on sanctioned Venezuelan oil remains active worldwide.
US officials said the operation was carried out jointly by the US Coast Guard and US military, with special forces briefly securing the ship before handing control to the Coast Guard.
Russian military vessels, including a Russian submarine, were reported to be in the area, but US officials said there was no confrontation between the two sides.
Russia’s transport ministry said it lost contact with the tanker after US forces boarded it. A senior Russian lawmaker called the seizure an act of “outright piracy.”
Sources said the vessel is likely heading toward British territorial waters, though the UK Ministry of Defence declined to comment.
Separately, the US Coast Guard also intercepted another Venezuela-linked tanker, the Panama-flagged M Sophia, in Latin American waters. The tanker, described as part of a sanctioned “dark fleet,” was escorting Venezuelan oil and is now being taken to the United States.
The seizures come amid increased US pressure on Venezuela’s oil exports. Since sanctions were imposed in 2019, Venezuela has relied on a shadow fleet of tankers that hide their locations to ship oil, mainly to China.
US officials say these vessels remain exposed to enforcement actions as the US continues to tighten its sanctions campaign.
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