US Seizes Russia-Flagged Tanker After Chase Across Atlantic

Stephanie Baker, Bloomberg News Senior Writer, discusses the US seizure of a Russia-flagged ship after a chase that began in late December.

US forces seized a Russia-flagged ship in the north Atlantic that’s been at the center of a dramatic sea chase across the ocean, an aggressive expansion of its blockade of sanctioned vessels going to and from Venezuela.

The US European Command announced the capture of the M/V Bella 1 in a social media post, saying the ship was seized for sanctions violations “pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court” after being tracked by a US Coast Guard vessel.

The seizure marks the conclusion of a chase that began in late December when the tanker turned away from Venezuela and retreated out into the Atlantic Ocean in a bid to avoid a US quarantine. The Trump administration deployed its naval assets in the Caribbean to squeeze President Nicolas Maduro in the days before US special-forces launched an operation to capture him.

“The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT — anywhere in the world,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X.

Soon after the capture, the Pentagon announced US forces had seized another tanker in a pre-dawn raid. The M/T Sophia was found “conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea” and is headed to the US “for final disposition,” US Southern Command said on X.

The capture of the first vessel risks inflaming tensions with Russia after the Bella 1, in a bid to avoid capture, switched to a Russian flag — its crew even painted the Russian tricolor on its hull — and changed its name to the Marinera. The US had sanctioned the ship in 2024 for carrying sanctioned oil on behalf of a company linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US.

The Trump administration plans to control future sales of Venezuelan oil and hold the proceeds in US accounts, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, making the clearest statement yet on Washington’s strategy to bring the impoverished nation’s crude to market and manage its most valuable resource.

Wright, who spoke at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. conference in Miami Wednesday, said initially the barrels would come from crude Venezuela is holding in storage, which has been filling up amid the US blockade and threatening to force some production off line.

“We’re just going to get that crude moving again and sell it,” Wright said. “We’re going to market the crude coming out of Venezuela – first this backed-up stored oil and then indefinitely going forward we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela.”

The plan comes as the Trump administration is pushing for US energy companies to rebuild Venezuela’s decaying oil infrastructure and revive its flagging production. The US is also selectively rolling back sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector as part of the effort, the Energy Department said.

Read More: With Maduro Out, Wall Street Chases After Venezuela’s Riches

President Donald Trump said Tuesday evening that Venezuela would relinquish as much as 50 million barrels of its oil for the US to sell, valued at about $2.8 billion at current market prices.

The US has already begun marketing Venezuelan crude, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing Wednesday.

Revenue from the sales will be held in US Treasury accounts, a move that would protect the proceeds from Venezuela’s creditors, a person familiar with the matter said. The funds will benefit the American and Venezuelan people, Leavitt said.

“All proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan crude oil and products will first settle in US-controlled accounts at globally recognized banks to guarantee the legitimacy and integrity of the ultimate distribution of proceeds,” Leavitt said. “Those funds will be dispersed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the United States.”

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