The US special forces commandeered a Russian-flagged oil tanker with links to Venezuela in the North Atlantic after a weeks-long pursuit, drawing a sharp rebuke from Moscow.
The US military’s European Command said the Marinera oil tanker, originally known as the Bella-1, was seized on Wednesday “for violations of US sanctions”.
“The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT – anywhere in the world,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on social media.
The operation came after the Marinera slipped through a US maritime “blockade” of sanctioned tankers going to and from Venezuela and rebuffed US Coast Guard efforts to board it.
American officials say the tanker is part of a “shadow fleet” that has carried oil for countries such as Venezuela, Russia, and Iran in violation of US sanctions.
Russian state broadcaster RT reported US forces boarded the Marinera from a helicopter, and it published an image of the aircraft hovering near the ship.
RT cited an unnamed source as saying a US Coast Guard vessel has been following the tanker, and an attempt to seize it during a storm had already been carried out.
US forces have been pursuing the Marinera in the Atlantic Ocean since last month in the lead-up to the country’s military operation to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which was carried out on Saturday.
In a statement, the Russian Transport Ministry said the US seizure was a violation of maritime 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,” it said in a statement.
The ministry added contact with the vessel, which it said received “temporary permission” to sail under the Russia flag on December 24, was lost after US naval forces boarded it “in the open sea, beyond the territorial waters of any state”.
Tracking data from MarineTraffic showed the tanker nearing Iceland’s exclusive economic zone before it was captured.
A Russian submarine and warship were in the vicinity as the operation unfolded, but there were no indications of any confrontation between US and Russian forces, Reuters news agency reported.
