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US Seizes Two Sanctioned Oil Tankers From Russia's 'Shadow Fleet'
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January 7, 2026
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6:00Now PlayingStephanie 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.
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