(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) US forces on Wednesday boarded and took by force a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic Ocean that it initially tried to seize off the coast of Venezuela weeks ago, an action that drew condemnation from Moscow.
The tanker was named the Bella 1 when the US first tried to capture it, but it changed its name to the Marinera and began flying a Russian flag as it was being chased by the US Coast Guard across the Atlantic. Russia had reportedly asked the US to stop pursuing the ship.
“On December 24, 2025, the Marinera received a temporary permit to fly the Russian flag, issued in accordance with Russian and international law,” the Russian Transportation Ministry said in a statement on the seizure.
The Transportation Ministry said that the seizure violated international law. “In accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies in the high seas, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states,” the ministry said.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry also issued a statement, calling for the US to treat any Russian nationals on the crew “humanely” and for them to be allowed to return home as quickly as possible. A Russian warship and submarine were reportedly in the vicinity of the Marinera during the seizure, but there was no confrontation between US and Russian forces.
US European Command announced the seizure and said the ship was taken for “violating US sanctions,” though US economic sanctions don’t give the US government the legal right to capture a ship in international waters. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the “blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT – anywhere in the world.”
The US seized a second tanker on Wednesday near the coast of Venezuela, according to a statement released by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“In two predawn operations today, the Coast Guard conducted back-to-back meticulously coordinated boarding of two “ghost fleet” tanker ships— one in the North Atlantic Sea and one in international waters near the Caribbean. Both vessels —the Motor Tanker Bella I and the Motor Taker Sophia—were either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it,” Noem wrote on X.
The US has seized a total of four tankers since President Trump declared a “total and complete blockade” on all “sanctioned” tankers going into or out of Venezuela, though at least one ship was not under US sanctions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the oil blockade would continue following the US attack on Venezuela that resulted in the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and the killing of about 80 people.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
