The United States has seized a Russian-flagged tanker linked to Venezuelan oil in a daring commando-style raid, after a more than two-week-long pursuit across the Atlantic.
Dramatic photos in Russian media purportedly show a helicopter – believed to be an American MH-6 Little Bird – swooping close to the rogue vessel before it was captured by US forces around 124 miles south of the Icelandic coast.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that British troops provided support for the seizure of the Marinera today including ‘pre-planned operational support, including basing, to US military assets’.
The Marinera ship – originally known as the Bella-1 – made an abrupt turn Wednesday afternoon and was heading towards Britain, according to ship tracking data.
In a fresh humiliation for Vladimir Putin, the operation occurred in the vicinity of Russian military personnel.
Donald Trump’s latest power play came after the Marinera slipped through a US maritime ‘blockade’ of sanctioned vessels and rebuffed US Coast Guard efforts to board it.
The operation, during which no American personnel were injured, is a show of strength against the Russian dictator – days after the US seized the ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in a lightning raid and threatened to takeover Greenland.
Russia’s foreign ministry begged the US to ‘ensure humane and dignified treatment’ of Russian citizens on board the vessel, and warning the US not to hamper their return to their homeland.
The tanker is the latest to be targeted by the US Coast Guard since the start of Trump‘s pressure campaign against Venezuela.
Last month, the US Coast Guard attempted to board it in the Caribbean, armed with a warrant to seize the ship over alleged breaches of US sanctions and claims it had shipped Iranian oil.
However, the tanker then abruptly changed course, renamed itself Marinera and was added to an official Russian ship database
At one point while being pursued, the crew of the vessel painted a Russian flag on its hull, claiming it was sailing under Russian protection, and Moscow made a formal diplomatic request that the US stop its chase.
The seizure of the Marinera occurred alongside a raid on a second Venezuela-linked oil tanker called the M/T Sophia.
A triumphant Trump took to Truth Social, writing: ‘The only Nation that China and Russia fear and respect is the DJT REBUILT U.S.A. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!’
Pictures in Russian media purportedly showed helicopters approaching the vessel today
American officials added that Russian military vessels were in the general vicinity when the operation took place, including a Russian submarine
American forces also captured a separate ‘dark fleet’ tanker, U.S. Southern Command said on Wednesday. Video showed US forces rappelling onto the vessel in the Caribbean Sea on Wednesday
The vessel tanker Bella 1 at Singapore Strait, after U.S. officials say the U.S. Coast Guard pursued an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, in this picture taken from social media on March 18, 2025
British Royal Air Force aircraft were involved in the US operation and UK airbases were used as launchpads for the US military aircraft.
The operation involved an RFA Tideforce vessel as the RAF provided surveillance support from the air.
Defence Secretary John Healey MP said:
‘Today our UK Armed Forces showed skill and professionalism in support of a successful US interception of the vessel Bella 1 while on its way to Russia.
‘This action formed part of global efforts to crack down on sanctions busting.
‘This ship, with a nefarious history, is part of a Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion which is fuelling terrorism, conflict, and misery from the Middle East to Ukraine.
‘The UK will continue to step up our action against shadow fleet activity to protect our national security, our economy, and global stability – making Britain secure at home and strong abroad.’
The sanctioned tanker was pursued ‘across the high seas and through treacherous storms’ before it was captured, the US Homeland Security Secretary said.
Kristi Noem said the seizure of this ‘ghost fleet’ vessel, and a separate tanker near the Caribbean, ‘put the world’s criminals on notice’.
The tankers, the Marinera and the Sophia – were ‘either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it’.
‘You can run, but you can’t hide. We will never relent in our mission to protect the American people and disrupt the funding of narco-terrorism wherever we find it, period,’ she said.
‘This is our country’s greatest fighting force at their best. This is America first at sea.’
‘One of these tankers, Motor Tanker Bella I, has been trying to evade the Coast Guard for weeks, even changing its flag and painting a new name on the hull while being pursued, in a desperate and failed attempt to escape justice,’ Noem said.
‘The heroic crew of the USCGC Munro pursued this vessel across the high seas and through treacherous storms – keeping diligent watch, and protecting our country with the determination and patriotism that make Americans proud.’
The latest location data from the vessel showed it made an abrupt turn to the south and slowed to just eight knots, starting at 11.26am GMT.
It appeared to be heading towards northern Scotland.
Data from flight tracking sites appeared to show both British and American military aircraft leaving the UK and heading towards the area the vessel is in.
Separately, the US Coast Guard has also intercepted another Venezuela-linked tanker in Latin American waters, US officials said, as the US continues enforcing a maritime ‘blockade’ of sanctioned vessels from Venezuela.
Sources told Reuters that the vessel was Panama-flagged supertanker M/T Sophia, which is under sanctions.
The ship, a ‘stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker’, was seized by the American military in a pre-dawn operation, pictured below.
‘The interdicted vessel, M/T Sophia, was operating in international waters and conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea,’ the US military said in a statement.
‘The US Coast Guard is escorting M/T Sophia to the US for final disposition.’
American forces captured a separate ‘dark fleet’ tanker called the M/T Sophia
The vessel was described as a ‘stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker’
It was ‘operating in international waters and conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea,’ the US military said
One oil analyst claimed the M/T Sophia was likely carrying around 2million barrels of Merey crude oil.
Emmanuel Belostrino, senior manager of crude oil market data at analytics firm Kpler, told CNN: ‘The VLCC’s (very large crude carrier) previous voyage was also from Venezuela, when it similarly loaded around 2 million barrels of Merey crude in early August 2025 before heading to offshore Malaysia (EOPL).
‘The sanctioned cargo was likely transferred to another vessel via dark ship-to-ship transfer, but Kpler has not determined the partner vessel’.
The humiliated Kremlin slammed the US over the seizure of the Russian-flagged tanker.
‘In accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies in waters on the high seas, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered under the jurisdiction of other states,’ Russia’s transport ministry said in a statement.
The vessel, which changed its name from Bella-1 to Marinera, had received ‘temporary permission’ to sail under the Russian flag on December 24, the ministry said, adding that ‘contact with the ship was lost’ after US naval forces boarded it ‘in the open sea, beyond the territorial waters of any state’.
Footage posted earlier by Russian television network RT purported to show a US Coast Guard cutter chasing the Marinera, which started its journey in Iran.
Earlier, the Daily Mail reported that British Typhoons were scrambled to intercept the vessel.
Trump last month said he had ordered a ‘blockade’ of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, a policy the government in Caracas branded ‘theft’.
In the run-up to the US seizure of the country’s former leader Maduro on Saturday, Trump repeatedly accused Venezuela’s government of using ships to smuggle drugs into the US.
Two US officials told CBS News on Tuesday that American forces were planning to board the Marinera and that Washington would prefer to seize the vessel rather than sink it.
The US European Command said the US Department of Justice and Homeland Security have ‘today announced the seizure of the M/V Bella 1 for violations of US sanctions’.
In a post on X, they added: ‘The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro.’
They added that the operations supported Trump’s ‘Proclamation targeting sanctioned vessels that threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere’.
‘The operation was executed by DHS components with support from @DeptofWar, showcasing a whole-of-government approach to protect the homeland.’
The US European Command said the US Department of Justice and Homeland Security have ‘today announced the seizure of the M/V Bella 1 for violations of US sanctions’
In a post on X, they said the ‘vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro’
Russia dispatched navy assets to protect the sanctioned oil tanker as it crossed the Atlantic, amid mounting threats from the US to seize the vessel
Footage posted by Russian television network RT purports to show a US Coast Guard cutter chasing the Russian-flagged oil tanker
An RAF Poseidon MRA1 may have been assisting US forces in their mission to seize the vessel, according to a flight tracking website.
Tracking data earlier today from FlightRadar24 showed a US Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker departing from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk at 08.54am. It was located off the west coast of Scotland flying towards Iceland.
Three Pilatus U-28A Draco aircraft also departed from the same air base and were seen flying north along Scotland’s east coast.
The planes are usually deployed in reconnaissance and other specialist missions by the US Air Force Special Operations Command.
Over the weekend, ten C-17 Globemasters and a pair of AC-130J Ghostriders landed at two RAF bases – RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk – signalling an indication of further action.
The planes came from Fort Campbell, Kentucky and Hunter, Georgia – airfields home to the 160th SOAR or Night Stalkers who helped in the raid on the Venezuelan president’s fortified compound in Caracas.
The C-17 Globemaster is a large military transport aircraft, often deployed in tactical and strategic missions as well as for transporting soldiers and cargo.
The AC-130J Ghostrider offers close air support, air interdiction and armed reconnaissance.
Also aiding the search for the ship were RAF Typhoon fighter jets, accompanied by KC2 aerial refuelling tankers.
It had departed from Venezuelan waters in early January as part of a fleet of ships carrying Venezuelan oil to China in ‘dark mode’ or with its transponder off, according to shipping data and sources.
The Marinera, formerly known as the Bella 1, had been falsely registered under a Guyanese flag.
It has historically transported Venezuelan crude oil but is understood to be empty at the moment.
Russia accused the US and Nato of excessive scrutiny surrounding the ship.
‘At present, our vessel is sailing in the international waters of the North Atlantic under the state flag of the Russian Federation and in full compliance with the norms of international maritime law,’ Russia’s foreign ministry said earlier on Wednesday.
‘For reasons unclear to us, the Russian ship is being given increased and clearly disproportionate attention by the US and Nato military, despite its peaceful status.
‘We expect that Western countries, which declare their commitment to freedom of navigation on the high seas, will begin adhering to this principle themselves.’
In the same week that the Bella 1 changed its name and adopted a Russian flag, a second ship operating in Venezuela, the Hyperion, made a similar change.
In recent days, at least three additional oil vessels that operated in Venezuelan waters have similarly switched to Russian flags, extending a pattern of reflagging among ships under US sanctions.
The capturing of the Marinera follows an operation 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.
Ten days later, another vessel named the Centuries carrying Venezuelan oil was halted and boarded, but not seized.
