Escalation at sea: US seizes Russian-flagged tanker in Atlantic linked to Venezuela oil

The United States has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic for violating US sanctions, escalating its maritime blockade of Venezuelan oil exports. This marked a rare instance of Washington taking control of a vessel operating under a Russian flag.

The seizure was confirmed on Wednesday by the US European Command, which said the action followed a federal court order. "The US Department of Justice and Homeland Security have ‘today announced the seizure of the M/V Bella 1 for violations of US sanctions’," the US European Command said.

In a post on X, the command added, "The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro." It further said that this seizure supports the US President's proclamation targeting sanctioned vessels "that threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere."

The tanker, originally known as Bella-1, had slipped through a US maritime blockade of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean and rebuffed earlier attempts by the US Coast Guard to board it. After that encounter, the ship registered under a Russian flag and was renamed Marinera, Reuters reported, citing US officials.

The operation to seize the vessel was carried out near Iceland by the US Coast Guard and the US military. Russian military vessels were in the general vicinity during the operation, including a Russian submarine.

While it was unclear how close the Russian vessels were to the tanker, there were no indications of a confrontation between US and Russian forces, the report said.

The Wall Street Journal reported late on Tuesday that the Russian navy had deployed a submarine to escort the tanker, heightening the stakes of any confrontation in the North Atlantic.