The United States has arrested a Russian oil tanker in the North Atlantic

The US Navy on Wednesday took control of a Russian-flagged oil tanker sailing in the North Atlantic, which it had been tracking for several days, as part of a US blockade of oil tankers linked to Venezuela, AFP reported.

The seizure of the tanker comes hours after media reports said Russia had sent at least one military ship to protect it. Meanwhile, Russian media published photos showing a military helicopter hovering over the tanker in the open sea.

The tanker, originally named “Bella 1”, has been under US sanctions since 2024 for alleged links to Iran and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. After being recently renamed “Marinera”, the tanker flew the Russian flag. The ship was located in Iceland’s exclusive economic zone on Wednesday morning, according to maritime traffic monitoring data.

The tanker had been under surveillance by the US Coast Guard since December 21 as it sailed empty towards Venezuela. The US announced in late December, before the capture of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, that it was imposing a naval blockade around Venezuela against US-sanctioned tankers. Since then, the US Navy has seized three tankers at sea.