The United States' European Command has seized two sanctioned Venezuela-linked oil tankers in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean, authorities said on Wednesday.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said that US forces have taken control of the tanker Sophia in the Caribbean. Earlier, US defence authorities announced they have seized the merchant vessel Bella 1 for violating US sanctions. According to Noem, both ships were either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it.
The US had been pursuing Bella 1 since last month after it tried to evade a US blockade on sanctioned oil vessels around Venezuela. According to the US military, the seized merchant vessels were subsequently handed over to law enforcement officials.
The seizure of Venezuela-linked oil tankers comes just days after US military forces conducted a surprise nighttime raid on Venezuela's capital of Caracas and captured then-President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
In the wake of the raid, Trump administration officials said that they intended to continue to seize sanctioned vessels connected to the country. "We are enforcing American laws with regard to oil sanctions," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC earlier this week. "We go to court. We get a warrant. We seize those boats with oil. And that will continue."
US sanctioned Bella 1 in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. Though the US Coast Guard attempted to board it in the Caribbean in December as it headed for Venezuela, the ship refused boarding and headed across the Atlantic.
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Meanwhile, shipping databases show Bella 1 was renamed Marinera and flagged to Russia. The US official also confirmed that the ship's crew had painted a Russian flag on the side of the hull.
Earlier Wednesday, open-source maritime tracking sites showed its position as between Scotland and Iceland, travelling north. US military planes have flown over the vessel, and on Tuesday a Royal Air Force surveillance plane was shown on flight-tracking sites flying over the same area.
Earlier, Russia's Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the US Navy's attempts to seize the vessel. Russia said it is following with concern the anomalous situation that has developed around the Russian oil tanker Marinera.
