U.S. forces have seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic for alleged sanctions violations tied to Venezuelan crude, capping a multiweek pursuit that unfolded under the eye of nearby Russian naval assets but ended without confrontation, U.S. officials said.
U.S. European Command, which oversees American forces in the region, said the operation was conducted jointly with the Department of Homeland Security. The tanker evaded an earlier boarding attempt near Venezuela and was intercepted as it moved north in the Atlantic. Russian vessels, including a submarine, were in the broader vicinity of the operation, officials said, but there were no indications of a direct standoff.
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The White House said the ship — identified by U.S. officials as the Marinera — was deemed stateless after “flying a false flag” and operating as part of a Venezuelan “shadow fleet” moving sanctioned oil. “The vessel was deemed stateless after flying a false flag, and it had a judicial seizure order, and that’s why the crew will be subject to prosecution,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the crew made “frantic efforts to avoid apprehension” and failed to obey Coast Guard orders, actions that could result in criminal charges.
Russia denounced the seizure as a violation of maritime law. The transport ministry said U.S. naval forces boarded the tanker near Iceland, adding that under the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, “no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states” on the high seas. Moscow demanded humane treatment and the swift return of any Russian crew, while noting it was closely tracking reports of U.S. military personnel boarding the vessel.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said it supported the U.S. operation with Royal Air Force surveillance, calling the assistance fully compliant with international law.
Marine tracking data placed the Marinera around 400 kilometers west of Ireland earlier this week, moving north outside the State’s exclusive economic zone; on Wednesday, the tanker was nearing Iceland’s waters, according to the MarineTraffic platform. A retired Irish naval commander described the ship as “an enormous” vessel traveling in ballast, meaning it was not carrying cargo.
Irish officials faced questions over potential U.S. military overflights linked to the pursuit. Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said the United States assured Dublin it complied with a longstanding 1959 aviation agreement, and she requested a report detailing the movements. Former Irish Coast Guard chief Chris Reynolds said the U.S. should not have boarded the tanker in international waters unless it was engaged in piracy, terrorism, human trafficking, or flying an illegal flag — the latter being the basis U.S. officials cited.
In a separate announcement, U.S. Southern Command said American authorities also seized a second sanctioned tanker, the M/T Sophia, in the Caribbean in a pre-dawn operation carried out in international waters.
The seizures come amid President Donald Trump’s intensifying crackdown on shipments linked to Venezuela. The Marinera has been under U.S. sanctions since 2024 over alleged ties to Iran and Hezbollah. Trump said this week that Venezuela would hand over tens of millions of barrels of oil to the United States following a U.S. raid that toppled President Nicolás Maduro, though details of the purported arrangement with interim leader Delcy Rodríguez remain unclear.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Washington will control the marketing and sale of Venezuelan oil “indefinitely,” with proceeds routed through U.S.-controlled accounts before being disbursed “for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people.” He later told CNBC that funds could eventually help compensate U.S. companies for past losses in Venezuela, after the economy stabilizes. “We’re not stealing anyone’s oil,” Wright said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, responding to European Command’s post, said the “blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in full effect — anywhere in the world.”
U.S. officials did not immediately specify the number of crew members aboard the Marinera, the eventual port of detention, or the precise charges the crew could face. Russia has demanded consular access and the immediate repatriation of any citizens aboard.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
