RAF fighter jets scrambled to intercept a Venezuelan oil tanker in the Atlantic yesterday as the US plotted a dramatic mission to seize it.
In dramatic Cold War-esque scenes, the Typhoons were thrust into action as Britain was drawn into America’s controversial campaign against the Latin American state.
The Trump administration wants to launch a raid on the now-Russian-registered ship, which passed 500 miles off the Irish coast yesterday, and would rather ‘seize it than sink it’, according to reports.
After the surgical strike on Caracas that led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro, the Pentagon has set its sights on the Bella 1 after sanctioning the vessel in 2024 for operating within a ‘shadow fleet’ of tankers transporting illicit Venezuelan oil.
The tanker, thought to be empty but which can carry up to £37m worth of oil, has changed its flag and its name repeatedly.
Having set off from the Caribbean in December in a bid to dodge US lawmakers, it is now operating as the Marinera, and in an appeal to Vladimir Putin, its crew even painted on a Russian flag.
But a showdown in the North Atlantic looms as the US looks to intercept the ship – thought to be trading on behalf of the Kremlin – before it makes Russian waters.
Moscow’s Foreign Ministry says it expects Western countries to respect principles of freedom of navigation.
RAF fighter jets scrambled to intercept a Venezuelan oil tanker in the Atlantic yesterday as the US plotted a dramatic mission to seize it. Pictured: A CV-22B Osprey was seen practicing winching exercises off the coast of Felixstowe
It could see a repeat of scenes from last month when the US Coast Guard led a dramatic raid on The Skipper, a tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
The US says the network of shadow vessels raises funds for ‘foreign terrorist organisations’, using the cause as justification for armed US personnel abseiling from helicopters onto The Skipper.
US plans to board the Marinera appear to explain the sudden build-up of US assets at British airbases in recent days.
At least ten C-17 Globemaster aircraft touched down at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. On landing, the crews unpacked Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters flown inside the transporters.
Meanwhile, pictures captured by an amateur photographer showed what seemed to be troops dangling from a USAF Osprey helicopter, possibly rehearsing for a raid on the Marinera, off the coast of Felixstowe on Monday.
Flight data trackers also identified a US U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft arriving in the UK, while a Poseidon P-8 intelligence plane joined the mission from a US airbase in Spain.
But the operation could prove treacherous due to sea conditions, the Marinera’s distance from landfall and the presence of Russian submarines in the area.
The Marinera was off the coast of Iceland last night, as British and US reconnaissance aircraft circled overhead.
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The Typhoons were joined by an RAF Rivet Joint intelligence gathering aircraft and an RAF Voyager refuelling plane.
At least four RAF aircraft taking part, and more US planes arriving in this country, the Ministry of Defence declined to provide any information last night.
It came as desperately attempted to straddle the divide between Britain’s European allies and the White House.
As US media reports predicted an intervention on the high seas, President Trump boasted about his military’s prowess.
He told the Republicans’ annual retreat in Washington: ‘The United States has proved once again that we have the most powerful, most lethal, most sophisticated and the most fearsome military on planet Earth.
‘I’ve been saying it for a long time. Nobody can take us.’
Tankers and cargo ships have been fleeing Venezuela as the US had increased its pressure on the country in recent weeks.
Mr Trump imposed a blockade of all sanctioned tankers bound for Venezuela in December. But the Marinera evaded US officials and set off across the Atlantic.
More than a dozen sanctioned tankers fled Venezuela in ‘dark mode’ in an effort to evade the US blockade.
The 16 vessels, mostly loaded with Venezuelan crude oil and fuel, used tactics that included disguising their locations or turning off their transmission signals.
Bosses from US oil companies are expected to visit the White House as early as tomorrow to discuss investments in Venezuela, Reuters reported.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘As routine, we do not comment on the operational activity of other nations, including third party use of UK bases.
‘The US is the UK’s principal defence and security partner. The depth of our defence relationship with the US remains an essential part of our security.’
