The United States has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker linked to Venezuelan oil exports in the North Atlantic, intensifying Washington’s campaign to enforce sanctions and control illicit oil flows. The vessel, now known as the Marinera and formerly called Bella 1, was intercepted after a weeks-long pursuit by the US Coast Guard and military forces, who tracked it across the Atlantic Ocean. The operation is part of a broader effort to block sanctioned tankers carrying oil from Venezuela, Russia, and Iran, in defiance of Western sanctions.
The Marinera had been sanctioned by the United States and changed its flag to Russia while evading capture, a move intended to complicate efforts to seize it. Russia’s Transport Ministry condemned the seizure as a violation of international law, citing the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and arguing that “no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states.”
The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed it provided logistical support to the US operation, including the use of British bases and surveillance by Royal Air Force aircraft. British Defence Secretary John Healey described the tanker as part of a “Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion” and said the action was aimed at disrupting illicit oil trading networks linked to terrorism and conflict.
US authorities also seized a second tanker, M/T Sophia, near the Caribbean Sea in a coordinated effort to disrupt oil shipments that Washington says help fund destabilising activities. Homeland Security and defence officials have framed the operations as necessary to enforce sanctions and protect regional security, even as Russia continues to protest and demand the humane treatment of seized crews.
The seizures mark a significant escalation in US efforts to tighten its maritime sanctions regime and clamp down on what officials describe as a “shadow fleet” of tankers attempting to evade enforcement actions.
VOC News
Photo: Sourced
