US ‘plans to grab Venezuelan tanker’ because it races in direction of Russia to flee seize
A high-stakes chase could unfold in waters near the British Isles as the US prepares to seize a sanctioned Venezuelan oil tanker racing for Russian protection to avoid American forces
The US plans to use special forces to seize a rogue Venezuelan oil tanker racing towards Russia in a bid to evade capture.
Donald Trump’s administration is said to be drawing up plans to intercept the vessel, which is roughly 500 miles west of Ireland.
Washington would “rather seize than sink” the Russian-registered ship, which was formerly known as the Bella 1 before being rebranded as the Marinera, American news outlet CBS reports.
It is wanted by the Americans for transporting illicit Venezuelan oil as part of a Kremlin-linked “shadow fleet” and was sanctioned in 2024.
The vessel slipped away from US forces in the Caribbean last month, but the net is tightening after Trump’s capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. US military aircraft flying from RAF Mildenhall are tracking the tanker, according to flight data.
RAF Typhoon jets and KC2 refuelling aircraft have also been seen operating near its last known position, suggesting a serious multinational surveillance effort.
The Marinera was previously flagged out of Panama and was sanctioned for its prior involvement in Iranian oil trading under former President Joe Biden, according to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The US coast guard had tried to intercept the Bella 1 as it sailed toward Venezuela to pick up oil before the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro. It then turned around to escape seizure by US forces.
The tanker evaded seizure in the Caribbean Sea last month and while previously under pursuit, the crew painted a Russian flag on the hull and claimed Moscow’s protection. Days later, the ship appeared on Russia’s official register under a new name.
It has recently been spotted in the Atlantic, around 500 miles from Ireland’s west coast, sailing under the Russian flag.
The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping lists the tanker as being ported out of Sochi, off the western coast of the Black Sea. The Russian government officially asked the US to stop all attempts to interdict the ship, the New York Times reported earlier this week.
Sources are said to have told CBS the mission could come as early as this week, though final approval has not been given.
And it is feared any mission could complicate sensitive talks between the The White House and the Kremlin over ending Mad Vlad’s war in Ukraine.
Since December 16, when Donald Trump imposed a “total and complete blockade” on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers, more than a dozen vessels have fled the country in what officials describe as a coordinated breakout attempt.
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