The United States military has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic, a move that appears to be unprecedented in recent years and has sparked sharp reactions from Moscow. The vessel, intercepted on Wednesday, had 28 crew members on board, including three Indian nationals, according to a report by Russia Today.
The tanker, identified as the Marinera, was tracked by US forces from the Caribbean Sea before being taken into custody in international waters. US authorities said the operation was carried out because of the ship’s alleged links to Venezuela, which remains under sweeping American sanctions.
Crew Details And Vessel Identity
According to Russia Today, citing Russia’s Transport Ministry, the ship had been chartered by a private trader and was previously operating under the name Bella 1 while flying the Guyana flag. Its multinational crew included 17 Ukrainians, six Georgians, three Indians, two Russians and others, highlighting the global makeup of maritime labour even amid geopolitical standoffs.
The seizure followed a tense pursuit at sea. US officials told Reuters that the tanker had slipped past a US maritime “blockade” of sanctioned vessels and had refused repeated attempts by the US Coast Guard to board it. The operation was ultimately executed by the Coast Guard with support from the US military.
Rare Move, Strong Reactions
Reuters reported that this appears to be the first known instance in recent memory of the US military seizing a Russian-flagged vessel. The incident comes against the backdrop of heightened US pressure on Venezuela, only days after a covert US Special Forces operation in Caracas that reportedly resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Moscow reacted angrily. Andrei Klishas, a senior lawmaker from the ruling United Russia party, condemned the seizure as “outright piracy,” according to Russia’s TASS state news agency. Russia’s Transport Ministry said it had lost all contact with the Marinera after US naval forces boarded the ship.
Russia Today aired images showing a helicopter hovering close to the tanker, suggesting US forces were attempting to take control of the sanctioned vessel at sea.
What The US Says
The US later confirmed that it had seized two sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela in operations spanning the North Atlantic and the Caribbean. One of the ships, Bella 1, later renamed Marinera, was described as Russian-flagged and accused of evading US restrictions after fleeing an American blockade of Venezuela last month.
The US Southern Command also identified the second vessel, M Sophia, as a Panama-flagged ship operating as part of what it called a “stateless, sanctioned dark fleet.”
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a social media post that both tankers had either recently docked in Venezuela or were heading there. She said the Coast Guard had carried out “back-to-back, meticulously coordinated boardings” of what she described as “ghost fleet” tanker ships.