US military seizes Russian-flagged oil tanker linked to Venezuela
A high-stakes maritime standoff is unfolding in the North Atlantic, where the U.S. military has seized a Russian-flagged tanker linked to Venezuela. The tanker “has been secured,” a U.S. official told The Washington Post. “U.S. federal law enforcement personnel are currently on board it.”
U.S. European Command announced that the vessel was seized in the North Atlantic under a U.S. federal court warrant for alleged sanctions violations.
American forces have chased the vessel for more than two weeks, but the operation was made complicated by the presence of a Russian submarine and warship nearby. The ship, formerly known as the Bella 1 and now renamed the Marinera, had previously evaded a U.S. maritime blockade near Venezuela and refused to allow Coast Guard inspectors to board.
Why this tanker matters
Reuters noted this appears to be the first U.S. attempt in recent memory to seize a ship flying the Russian flag. According to The Wall Street Journal, the confrontation over the Marinera turned a single empty, aging tanker into a test of President Donald Trump’s effort to choke off sanctioned oil shipments from Venezuela and other U.S. adversaries.
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U.S. officials apprehended two other crude carriers — the Skipper and the Centuries — described as part of Russia’s shadow fleet network.
The vessel was identified as part of a “shadow” or “dark” fleet — a collection of more than 1,000 aging ships with opaque ownership used to bypass Western sanctions. These tankers often disable tracking systems and conduct ship-to-ship transfers to obscure the origins of Iranian, Russian and Venezuelan crude. The U.S. had already apprehended two other crude carriers, the Skipper and the Centuries, that officials describe as part of that shadow network.
The maritime confrontation follows a U.S. commando raid in Caracas on Saturday that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Top Venezuelan officials have called the operation a kidnapping and accused Washington of trying to steal the country’s vast oil reserves, while Trump and senior U.S. officials have accused Venezuela of “stealing” U.S. oil through decades of energy-sector nationalization.
How the standoff began
The Bella 1 was already under sanctions for its alleged role in transporting black-market Iranian oil on behalf of U.S.-designated terrorist organizations aligned with Tehran. When the Coast Guard first tried to board the vessel near Venezuela in December 2025, U.S. authorities classified the ship as “stateless” and subject to a court seizure order, arguing it was flying a false flag.
Following the failed boarding, the Journal reported that the crew steamed into the Atlantic, hastily painting a Russian flag on the hull, changing the ship’s name to the Marinera and re-registering it in Russia. Moscow then filed diplomatic requests asking Washington to halt the pursuit, while Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it is monitoring the case “with concern,” the outlets reported.
The Coast Guard trailed the Marinera into the eastern Atlantic. The Journal reported the vessel was positioned south of Iceland, headed toward the North Sea. The Telegraph added that the ship was most recently spotted roughly 250 miles off Ireland’s west coast and appeared to be headed toward the Russian port of Murmansk.
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