US Confirms Seizing Venezuelan Oil Tanker Racing to Russia Despite Putin Sending Navy Ships, Submarine
US Confirms Seizing Venezuelan Oil Tanker Racing to Russia Despite Putin Sending Navy Ships, Submarine
On Wednesday, January 7, 2026, U.S. European Command confirmed the successful seizure of the Russian-flagged oil tanker Marinera in a high-stakes operation in the North Atlantic.
The vessel, formerly known as the Bella 1, had been the subject of a two-week pursuit across the ocean after evading a U.S. Coast Guard boarding attempt near Venezuela in December.
During its flight, the crew attempted to claim sovereign protection by renaming the ship, re-registering it under the Russian flag, and crudely painting a Russian flag on its hull.
Despite reports that the Kremlin had dispatched a navy escort including a submarine and a warship to safeguard the tanker, U.S. forces, supported by elite special operations aviation assets, boarded the ship without a kinetic confrontation in the waters between Iceland and Scotland.
The seizure marks a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned Venezuelan oil assets.
This policy follows the recent capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. Special Forces, with U.S. officials stating that the operation was executed pursuant to a federal court warrant targeting the “shadow fleet” used to bypass international sanctions.
While the Marinera was reportedly empty and heading toward a Russian port at the time of its capture, the incident has sparked a major diplomatic rift, with the Russian Foreign Ministry condemning the move as a violation of international maritime law.
The vessel has since been handed over to U.S. federal law enforcement, while a second sanctioned tanker, the M Sophia, was simultaneously intercepted in the Caribbean, signaling a global crackdown on the illicit oil trade.
