The US Coast Guard is attempting to seize a Russia-flagged oil tanker protected by Russian warships and a submarine. The ship fled the American blockade of Venezuela and the United States has been chasing it for two weeks.
The United States was on Wednesday attempting to seize a Russia-flagged oil tanker, Bella-1, which is being protected by Russian warships and a submarine.
The seizure attempt involves the US Coast Guard and military, officials told Reuters.
Officials added that
Russian military vessels, including a submarine, were in the general vicinity when the operation took place.
Separately, Russian state-controlled RT reported a source as saying that military forces, presumably American, were attempting to board the ship.
RT also shared visuals of the attempted seizure. The visuals could not be immediately verified.
❗️ Military forces, presumably American, are attempting to board Russian-flagged civilian tanker ‘Marinera’ RIGHT NOW — RT source
RT has obtained first exclusive visual confirmation of the boarding attempt https://t.co/lWf62lN7hH pic.twitter.com/rn9xfLmNxi
— RT (@RT_com) January 7, 2026
Last month, Bella-1 fled the American blockade of Venezuela. The US Coast Guard has been pursuing the ship for two weeks.
As a result of the American pursuit, Bella-1 could not dock in Venezuela to load oil. The empty, rusty ship slipped past the blockade and an initial attempt to board it last month failed.
After evading the blockade, Bella-1 changed its registration to Russia, hoisted a Russian flag, and adopted the name Marinera.
As per the latest information, the ship was near Iceland in the Atlantic Ocean and heading towards Russia.
When the US Coast Guard began its pursuit two weeks ago, the ship was accused of carrying black-market Iranian and Russian oil on behalf of US-designated terrorist organisations aligned with the Iranian regime, according to the Wall Street Journal.
After registering the ship under its jurisdiction, the Russian government and state media have come to its defence. While the government expressed concerns about the pursuit, state media argued that the American chase is unjustified.
The confrontation over the tanker marks a rare face-off between Russia and the United States during President Donald Trump’s second term as the two governments have developed a close relationship since January in a reversal of decades of rivalry.
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