The United States has seized the Russian-flagged oil tanker Marinera off the coast of Great Britain. According to Reuters and the official statement from the US European Command, the ship was detained under a US federal court order after a pursuit lasting more than two weeks in the Atlantic Ocean. This is one of the first cases in recent decades when the US military has taken overt force against a tanker flying the Russian state flag.
Back in December, the ship sailed under the flag of Guyana, but to avoid pursuit by the US Coast Guard, the crew raised the Russian flag and declared it under the protection of Moscow. According to Washington, this tanker, previously known as the “Bella 1”, is part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” and is involved in illegal oil transportation, which is why it was on the sanctions list back in 2024.
The operation was carried out under conditions of high military risk, as intelligence data indicated that Russian warships and a submarine were in the area where the tankers were deployed. The Russian Foreign Ministry had described the situation the day before as “anomalous”. It stated that the attention paid by the US and NATO did not correspond to the vessel’s peaceful status. However, Washington ignored Moscow’s calls to stop the pursuit and completed the detention of the tankers.
