US forces seize Venezuela-linked Russian oil tanker in the Atlantic

"Britain provided support to the United States in its operation to seize a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic, the Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday. In a post on X, the U.S. military's European Command said the Trump administration had seized the vessel for violating U.S. sanctions. "The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT - anywhere in the world," U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in reply to that post."

"Two U.S. officials, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Wednesday's operation was carried out by the Coast Guard and U.S. military. U.S. special forces initially helped secure the tanker but left the vessel, which was now under Coast Guard control, one of the officials said. The officials said Russian military vessels were in the general vicinity of the operation, including a Russian submarine."

U.S. and British forces seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker, the Marinera, in the North Atlantic near Iceland, citing violations of U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil. The Marinera, formerly Bella-1, had earlier slipped a U.S. maritime blockade in the Caribbean and resisted Coast Guard boarding. U.S. special forces initially helped secure the tanker before it was transferred to U.S. Coast Guard control. Russian naval vessels, including a submarine, were reported in the vicinity but no confrontation was indicated. A Russian lawmaker called the seizure piracy, and Russia's transport ministry said it lost contact with the vessel.

Read at Irish Independent