The United States, on Wednesday, is attempting to seize a Russian-flagged oil tanker with links to Venezuela after a more than two-week-long pursuit across the Atlantic, and as a Russian submarine and warship were close by, Reuters reported, citing two US officials.
The seizure, which could stoke tensions with Russia, came after the tanker, originally known as the Bella-1, slipped through a US maritime “blockade” of sanctioned tankers and rebuffed US Coast Guard efforts to board it.
The officials cited in the report said the operation was being carried out by the Coast Guard and the US military.
They added that Russian military vessels were in the general vicinity of the operation, including a Russian submarine. It was unclear how close the vessels were to the operation, which was taking place close to Iceland.
According to Reuters, this appeared to be the first time in recent memory that the US military has attempted to seize a Russian-flagged vessel. The attempt also comes just days after a dead-in-the-night operation by the US Special Forces in Caracas, which resulted in the “capture” of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last Saturday.
Previous attempts
The US Coast Guard first attempted to intercept the vessel last month, but it refused to be boarded. Since then, it has registered under a Russian flag.
The tanker, now known as the Marinera, is the latest tanker targeted by the US Coast Guard since the start of US President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against Venezuela.
Separately, the US Coast Guard has also intercepted another Venezuela-linked tanker in Latin American waters, US officials told Reuters, as the US continues enforcing a maritime “blockade” of sanctioned vessels from Venezuela.