LAST UPDATE | 20 hrs ago

US AUTHORITIES SAY they have seized the Russian-flagged ship the Marinera in the North Atlantic. 

The ship is currently 600 nautical miles from Ireland and at least 400 miles from the waters of the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone. 

John Healey, the British Defence Secretary has confirmed that the RAF provided aircraft to the mission.

US forces took control of the Marinera, the Russian-flagged vessel previously known as Bella 1, shortly before 1pm Irish time.

It is said to have escaped Donald Trump’s “total naval blockade” of Venezuela.

The vessel had evaded an earlier attempt to board it last month near the country, where a US raid on Saturday toppled and captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

This afternoon, the US European military command said that its Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security seized the ship for violations of US sanctions.

“The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro.”

The @TheJusticeDept & @DHSgov, in coordination with the @DeptofWar today announced the seizure of
the M/V Bella 1 for violations of U.S. sanctions. The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro. pic.twitter.com/bm5KcCK30X

— U.S. European Command (@US_EUCOM) January 7, 2026

In a statement Healey said the UK took part in the operation as part of global efforts to crack down on sanctions busting.

“This ship, with a nefarious history, is part of a Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion which is fuelling terrorism, conflict, and misery from the Middle East to Ukraine.”

The Russian Government has criticised the seizure in a statement this afternoon. 

“In accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies in waters on the high seas, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered under the jurisdiction of other states,” Russia’s transport ministry said in a statement.

The vessel had received “temporary permission” to sail under the Russian flag on December 24, the ministry said, adding that “contact with the ship was lost” after US naval forces boarded it “in the open sea, beyond the territorial waters of any state”. 

The vessel is one of more than 500 vessels used by Russia to dodge sanctions imposed after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – collectively they are known as the Shadow Fleet. 

The empty oil tanker had been en route to a rendezvous in Venezuela but turned around before Christmas and had been thought to be on a course to Russia.  

It is believed that the vessel had been heading to Venezuela to collect oil.

The ship was pursued by American military forces, understood to be a US Coastguard Cutter, as it left Venezuela – it has been under US sanctions since 2024 because of alleged ties to Iran and Hezbollah.

In two predawn operations today, the Coast Guard conducted back-to-back meticulously coordinated boarding of two “ghost fleet” tanker ships— one in the North Atlantic Sea and one in international waters near the Caribbean. Both vessels —the Motor Tanker Bella I and the Motor… pic.twitter.com/EZlHEtcufX

— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) January 7, 2026

In a separate simultaneous operation the US also seized a second alleged “stateless” tanker in the Caribbean.

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The US military’s Southern Command said the Panama-flagged supertanker M Sophia, which is under sanctions, was intercepted before dawn and described it as a “stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker”.

“The U.S. Coast Guard is escorting M/T Sophia to the U.S. for final disposition,” it said.

The White House said Wednesday that the oil tanker seized by US forces in the North Atlantic, which had claimed to be Russian-flagged, had been “deemed stateless after flying a false flag.”

Use of the phrase “stateless” is connected to a provision in the United Nations Convention on the law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which allows seizure of a ship that is not registered to a specific country.

Discussing the earlier fleet seized in the North Atlantic, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the vessel was “deemed stateless after flying a false flag”, as well having a judicial seizure order against it.

US War Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the US’s blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan oil is in effect “anywhere in the world”.

“The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT – anywhere in the world,” Hegseth wrote on X.

A video tweeted by Kirsti Noem, the US Homeland Security secretary, shows one of the ships being boarded. It is not said whether it is the Sophia or the Bella 1.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House spokeswoman, told a press conference that both ships will be taken to the US. 

- With reporting from Press Association and AFP.