The United States has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic, intercepting the vessel in international waters after tracking it from the Caribbean. The tanker, Marinera, was taken under a US federal court warrant over alleged sanctions violations, according to US European Command.
The operation was carried out by the US Coast Guard with support from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. American officials said the action was linked to enforcement measures targeting oil shipments associated with sanctioned states.
The vessel, previously known as Bella 1, reportedly came under US scrutiny after attempting to approach Venezuela late last year. When US forces sought to board it, the crew refused and continued into the Atlantic. During the pursuit, the ship was renamed and began sailing under a Russian flag.
US authorities maintain that the reflagging did not alter the vessel’s legal status. Russian officials, however, have raised concerns about the interception of a Russian-flagged ship far from US jurisdiction, viewing the seizure as an aggressive extension of sanctions enforcement into international waters.
The capture of the Marinera followed another US interdiction in the Caribbean, where American forces seized a tanker described as part of a so-called dark fleet. Together, the actions point to an expanded effort by Washington to police global energy flows through naval power.
For Moscow, the seizure underscores growing concerns that US sanctions are increasingly enforced through coercive measures at sea, blurring the line between legal enforcement and power projection. As economic pressure becomes more militarized, incidents such as this risk adding new strain to already tense US–Russia relations.