The crude oil tanker, named Bella 1 and later Marinera, was seized by US forces on Wednesday. The tanker is visible in a photograph taken aboard the US Coast Guard cutter Munro.
US European Command
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US European Command
After a two-week chase, US troops captured a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic between Iceland and Britain.
The tanker was originally bound for Venezuela but changed course to avoid US ships, leading to lengthy drama at sea.
The US action is part of a military pressure campaign that includes boarding tankers on the US sanctions list. The campaign began a month ago, but the US arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
Wednesday's actions show the campaign continues.
Responding to the hijacking in the North Atlantic, Russia's Ministry of Transport confirmed that the tanker “was granted temporary permission” to fly the Russian flag on December 24, 2025, in a message translated and distributed Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
Citing international law, the ministry added that “no state has the right to use force against ships duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states.”
The ministry did not directly respond to US accusations that the ship was being used to circumvent sanctions. After American troops boarded the ship, contact with the ship was lost, the Ministry of Transport said.
When the naval standoff began last month, the tanker was called the Bella 1 and was on the US sanctions list, part of the so-called “ghost fleet” of ships transporting oil from countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran.
Bella 1 refused to stop and changed course, heading out of the Caribbean and crossing the Atlantic.
Along the way, he renamed himself Mariner and changed his flag to a Russian ship. Shipping analysts say the ship may have been heading to a Russian port in the Arctic when American troops boarded it.
The tanker was intercepted in waters between the UK and Iceland. This was reported by the UK Ministry of Defense.adding that Britain provided a base and other support for the operation. The ship had earlier turned off its transponders while at sea, apparently trying to elude its pursuers, according to the ministry.
“This ship with a sordid history is part of a Russia-Iran axis of sanctions evasion that is fueling terrorism, conflict and suffering from the Middle East to Ukraine,” British Defense Secretary John Healey said.
US European Command and the Department of Homeland Security announced the seizure. social media.
US European Command identified the ship like the Bella 1, a ship that sparked weeks of speculation when the US tried to seize it. Bella 1 was recently renamed Marinera and began flying the Russian flag.
In this regard, the second tanker Sophia was also intercepted in or near the Caribbean Sea. US Southern Command called the ship a “stateless, sanctioned dark fleet tanker.”
A US helicopter drops personnel onto the deck of the Sofia (screenshot of a video published by the US Southern Command).
US Southern Command
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US Southern Command
The Sophia “operated in international waters and engaged in illegal activities,” the military said, adding that the US Coast Guard is now escorting the ship to the US.
IN publish on XSecretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said: “Today, in two pre-dawn operations, the Coast Guard conducted back-to-back, carefully coordinated boardings of two Ghost Fleet tankers.
Bella 1 and Sophia were “last docked in or en route to Venezuela,” Noem said.
This is a developing story.
