US, with help of UK, seizes Venezuela-linked oil tanker sailing under Russian flag
The United States seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker with links to Venezuela for violating US sanctions after a more than two-week-long pursuit across the Atlantic, the US's European Command (EUCOM) announced on Wednesday.
The Marinera was seized in the North Atlantic after a US federal court issued a warrant, following tracking by US Coast Guard vessels.
The United Kingdom aided the US in the operation, with a military vessel supporting US forces pursuing the tanker and the Royal Air Force providing air surveillance, the UK's Ministry of Defence confirmed.
The tanker, previously known as the Bella-1, was originally bound for Venezuela before it turned around last month after encountering the US Coast Guard.
The Marinera attempted to pass through a US maritime blockade of sanctioned vessels, rebuffed US Coast Guard efforts to board it, and attempted to flee.
The Marinera is owned by Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises SA, a Panama-based Turkish-owned company that has been sanctioned by the US government since 2024 for "having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support" to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps's Quds Force.
The tanker was originally registered under the Guyanese flag before changing to the Russian flag mid-voyage on December 24, according to the BBC.
This appeared to be the first time in recent memory that the US military has attempted to seize a Russian-flagged vessel.
Russian military vessels were reportedly in the general vicinity of the operation, including a Russian submarine. It was unclear how close the vessels were to the operation, which was taking place close to Iceland.
Russia's Ministry of Transportation accused the US of violating maritime law with the seizure.
"No state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states," the Russian ministry said in a statement. "In accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies in the high seas."
Additionally, Andrei Klishas, Russia's Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on State Building, decried the joint US-UK operation as "blatant piracy."
US seizes additional vessel
The US Southern Command additionally apprehended another vessel, the M/T Sophia, in international waters on Wednesday.
The M/T Sophia, a "stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker," according to US Southern Command, had been "conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea" at the time of the seizure.
Following the operation, the US Coast Guard began escorting the vessel to the US for disposition.
Ukraine praises the seizure
Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, praised the seizure as a testament to "the United States' and President Trump's resolute leadership" in a post on X/Twitter.
"We welcome such approach to dealing with Russia: act, not fear," Sybiha said, "This is also relevant to peace process and bringing a lasting peace closer."