The US Army seized a tanker flying the Russian flag. Kremlin warships were nearby – video
US operation with the tanker Bella-1 (Photo: x.com/US_EUCOM)

The U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Armed Forces are conducting an operation to seize a tanker originally known as Bella-1, now registered under the Russian flag as Marinera. First up reported Reuters, and then confirmed US European Command.

"The U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Department of Defense, announced the arrest of the Bella-1 for violating U.S. sanctions. The vessel was arrested in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court after being tracked by the USCGC Munro, a Coast Guard cutter," the statement said.

According to Reuters, the Venezuelan-bound tanker was seized after a more than two-week chase across the Atlantic. It was able to "slip through" the so-called naval blockade of ships under sanctions and rejected attempts by the US Coast Guard to board.

Officials do not rule out that these actions could exacerbate tensions with Russia. They also reported that at the time of the operation, Russian military vessels, including a submarine, were in close proximity to the tanker.

A video is circulated online of an alleged landing of a US landing party from an MH-6 Little Bird helicopter onto a Bella-1/Marinera tanker, reports Bloomberg. The operation is still ongoing.

This tanker, registered under the Russian flag, is the latest to be targeted by the US "pressure campaign" since the start of the White House's operation against Venezuela. However, according to U.S. officials, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted another tanker linked to Venezuela in Latin American waters.

UPDATED at 5:00 p.m. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem confirmed two operations and landings on two "shadow fleet" tankers – one in the North Atlantic and the other in international waters near the Caribbean. These are the Bella I and Sophia, which were last docked in or headed to Venezuela.

Noem noted that the Bella I tanker had evaded U.S. Coast Guard inspection for weeks, reflagged, and painted a new name on its hull to avoid justice.

"Criminals of the world be warned. You may run, but you cannot hide. We will never compromise our mission to protect the American people and stop the financing of narcoterrorism wherever we find it, period. This is our nation's greatest fighting force at its best."

UPDATED at 17:20. The Russian Ministry of Transport stated that the Bella-1/Marinera vessel received a "permission to sail" under the Russian flag on December 25, 2025. After the US landing force landed on its board, contact with the vessel was allegedly lost.

Russia recalled the norms of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, according to which the high seas are governed by a regime of freedom of navigation and no state has the right to use force against ships that are supposedly properly registered in the jurisdiction of other countries.

  • december 7, 2025 USA introduced a complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela's ports.
  • on December 31, it was reported that oil tanker crew Bella 1, pursued by the US Coast Guard, drew a Russian flag. The NYT reported that Moscow asked Washington to stop the persecution of an oil tanker.
  • on January 3, 2026, Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro was detained by the US military in Caracas and delivered to the United States.
  • on January 5, his brought to the federal court Manhattan in New York.
  • According to Reuters on January 5, about 10 oil tankers left Venezuela from the beginning of 2026.