US military seizes two oil tankers linked to Venezuela in the North Atlantic and Caribbean, officials say

The United States carried out operations Wednesday to seize two oil tankers linked to Venezuela – one in the North Atlantic and one in the Caribbean Sea, officials said.

American command in Europe confirmed the entry of the Marinera, an oil tanker linked to Venezuela, formerly known as Bella-1. The vessel was seized for violating US sanctions and pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court after being tracked by the USCGC Munro.

The United States has been tracking the tanker since last month, and CBS News is the first to reported Monday that American forces were considering intercepting it. The prosecution began during a pressure campaign against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was capture by American forces last weekend. Two other tankers were seized by the United States last month.

American officials also announcement On Wednesday, “a stateless and sanctioned Dark Fleet tanker” was seized before dawn in the Caribbean. The US Southern Command said in an article on X that the intercepted vessel, the M/T Sophia, was “conducting illicit activities” and operating in international waters.

Two U.S. officials told CBS News that the Sophia was flying the Cameroonian flag and left Venezuela with oil on board. The United States ruled that the ship violated its embargo on Venezuela. Officials said the United States had full control of the ship and no U.S. personnel were injured during the operation. The U.S. Coast Guard was escorting the ship back to the United States “for a final decision,” according to U.S. Southern Command.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristin Noem, who video published of one of the interceptions on social media, described the operations as “consecutive” and “meticulously coordinated,” adding that the ships were either last docked in Venezuela or en route to that country.

The Marinera – which historically carried Venezuelan crude oil and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department – ​​previously flew the flag of Panama. Like other seized tankers, it was sanctioned by US authorities for its previous involvement in the Iranian oil trade. She now sails under the Russian flag.

A Russian submarine and other warships were deployed to escort the tanker as the United States followed it, two U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News on Tuesday.

Noem said the tanker had been “trying to evade the Coast Guard for weeks, even changing its flag and painting a new name on the hull while being pursued, in a desperate and unsuccessful attempt to escape justice.”

Reuters first reported that the seizure of the vessel was underway on Wednesday.

The Russian maritime register of shipments lists The tanker was reportedly transported out of Sochi, off the west coast of the Black Sea. The New York Times reported that the Russian government had officially asked the United States to stop any attempts to interdict the ship.

The two officials familiar with plans to seize Marinera said earlier this week that the United States would prefer to seize the ship rather than sink it and that the operation could be similar to one conducted last month when U.S. Marines and special operations forces worked with the U.S. Coast Guard grabbed the skippera large oil tanker flying the flag of Guyana, after the ship left the port of Venezuela.

Ships like the Marinera and Skipper are part of a so-called ghost fleet of ships that illegally transport oil from sanctioned countries like Russia, Iran and Venezuela.

Maduro has rejected U.S. allegations about how the ships are used and accuses the United States of plundering Venezuelan resources under the cover of law enforcement.