U.S. seizes Russian-flagged oil tanker with ties to Venezuela

Bill Chappell | January 7, 2026

After a two week chase, U.S. forces have seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the north Atlantic between Iceland and Britain.

The tanker was originally bound for Venezuela, but changed course to avoid the U.S. ships, setting off the extended drama at sea.

The U.S. action is part of a military pressure campaign that includes boarding tankers that are on a U.S. sanctions list. The campaign began a month ago, but the U.S. seized Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

Wednesday’s action shows the campaign is ongoing.

When the confrontation at sea began last month, the tanker was called the Bella-1 and was on the U.S. sanctions list, part of the so-called “ghost fleet” of ships involved in the transport of oil from countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran.

The Bella-1 refused to halt and reversed course, heading from the Caribbean and going across the Atlantic.

On the way it renamed itself the Marinera and re-flagged itself as a Russian ship. Shipping analysts say it may have been headed to a Russian port in the Arctic when U.S. forces boarded it.

The U.S. military’s European Command and the Department of Homeland Security both announced the seizure on social media.

U.S. European Command identified the vessel as the Bella-1, a ship that has sparked weeks of speculation as the U.S. moved to seize it. Recently, the Bella 1 was renamed the Marinera and began sailing under the Russian flag.

In a related development, a second tanker, the Sophia, was also intercepted in or near the Caribbean Sea. U.S. Southern Command called the ship “a stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker.”

A U.S. helicopter lowers personnel onto the deck of the M/T Sophia, in a screenshot from a video published by U.S. Southern Command. (U.S. Southern Command)

Sophia “was operating in international waters and conducting illicit activities,” the military said, adding that the U.S. Coast Guard is now escorting the ship to the U.S.

In a post on X, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem stated, “In two predawn operations today, the Coast Guard conducted back-to-back meticulously coordinated boarding of two ‘ghost fleet’ tanker ships.”

The Bella-1 and the Sophia “were either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it,” Noem said.

Responding to the seizure in the North Atlantic, the Russian Ministry of Transport affirmed that the renamed tanker “was granted temporary permission” to sail under the Russian flag on Dec. 24, 2025, in a post translated and shared by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Citing international law, the ministry added, “no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states.”

The ministry did not directly address U.S. accusations that the vessel was used to circumvent sanctions on Venezuela. After U.S. forces boarded the ship, communication with the vessel was lost, the Transport Ministry said.

This is a developing story.