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In another dire escalation, the U.S. has reported the seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the northern Atlantic Ocean that the military has been pursuing for weeks, citing ties to Venezuela and the Trump administration’s illegal blockade of that country.
The Pentagon’s European Command announced the operation on Wednesday morning, and Russian media also reported that the vessel had been boarded by U.S. forces. European Command said that the vessel was violating the U.S.’s sanctions on Venezuela’s oil exports, which legal experts have repeatedly said are illegal under international law.
The tanker, originally known as the Bella-1 and renamed to the Marinera, was sailing under the Russian flag and was being escorted by at least one Russian naval vessel. For weeks, it had evaded capture, and had reportedly never landed in Venezuela. The vessel was reportedly empty when the U.S. seized it.
U.S. European Command said that the operation was carried out by the Department of Defense in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security. “This seizure supports [Trump’s] Proclamation targeting sanctioned vessels that threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere,” the command said on X.
The seizure is an escalation of tensions against Russia on top of a continuation of the U.S.’s operations to seize Venezuela’s oil.
Russian officials have condemned the seizure. Russia’s transportation ministry said in a statement that “no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered under the jurisdiction of other states.” Reuters reports a Russian lawmaker from the ruling party has described it as piracy, and lawmakers have denounced the action.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense said it supported the seizure, including with surveillance from the air.
“U.K. Armed Forces provided pre-planned operational support, including basing, to U.S. military assets interdicting the Bella 1 in the UK-Iceland-Greenland gap following a U.S. request for assistance,” the agency said in a statement. “The U.K. and U.S. defence and security relationship is the deepest in the world and the U.K. provided enabling support in full compliance with international law.”
U.S. Southern Command also reported that the Coast Guard intercepted another tanker, this one flagged to Panama, with links to Venezuela in Latin American waters on Wednesday, known as the M Sophia. The Coast Guard is escorting the tanker to the U.S. “for final disposition,” said Southern Command in a post on X.
“The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT,” wrote Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
The two seizures mark the third and fourth publicly announced tanker seizures in recent months. They are the first to be captured since the U.S.’s abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday. Trump administration officials are demanding that the U.S. control all oil assets in the Western Hemisphere.
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