Updated at 5:43 PM
Attention. Some of the information in this article is inaccurate. After verifying the facts, we published an updated account of the events related to the detention of “shadow fleet” tankers.
U.S. military personnel boarded the Russian tanker Marinera, Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson reported.
“According to officials, U.S. forces boarded the sanctions-listed tanker between Iceland and the British Isles before Russian warships and a submarine arrived in the area. The vessel had previously been named Bella 1 but was re-registered and became a Russian ship,” Tomlinson wrote on X.
A frame broadcast on Russian state television on January 7 that purportedly shows an attempt by a U.S. helicopter to intercept the sanctions-listed oil tanker Marinera.
RT
It was previously reported that the vessel had been tracked by the United States and that Russia had dispatched a submarine to protect it.
U.S. European Command has officially confirmed the detention of the Russian oil tanker Marinera in the Atlantic Ocean.
U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth said the detention of the Russian tanker was linked to its involvement in transporting Venezuelan oil. According to him, the blockade of Venezuelan supplies would continue “anywhere in the world.”
It had previously been reported that the seized tanker accepted Russian jurisdiction in December, seeking in this way to circumvent the blockade currently imposed on Venezuela.
Updated January 7 at 4:13 PM
The United Kingdom took part in a U.S.-led operation to seize a Russian oil tanker near Iceland. The disclosure was made by Defence Secretary John Healey, as quoted by The Times.
According to Healey, “today the United Kingdom’s armed forces demonstrated skill and professionalism by supporting the successful interception by U.S. forces of the vessel Bella-1, which was bound for Russia. This operation formed part of global efforts to counter sanctions evasion.” He stressed that “this ship, with its notorious history, is part of a Russian-Iranian axis for circumventing sanctions—one that fuels terrorism, conflict, and suffering from the Middle East to Ukraine.”
The minister added that the United Kingdom intends to continue stepping up measures targeting the activities of the so-called shadow fleet.
The United States also said it had seized another Russian tanker—the vessel Sophia—in the Caribbean Sea, according to U.S. Southern Command.