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What the US seizure of Russian tanker Marinera means for global oil trade
The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted the Russian-flagged tanker Marinera, formerly named Bella 1, linked to Venezuela, after a lengthy pursuit.
The U.S. has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker linked to Venezuela after a more than two-week pursuit across the Atlantic Ocean. The vessel, seized in an attempt to choke Venezuelan trade, marks the first time the US has seized a Russian asset.
Formerly named Bella 1, Marinera was intercepted in the North Atlantic near Iceland after evading multiple U.S. Coast Guard attempts to board it in the Caribbean and Venezuelan waters since December 2025, officials said.
The Coast Guard and U.S. military conducted the operation on Wednesday, according to two U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters. After initially assisting in the tanker's security, U.S. special troops abandoned the ship, which was now under Coast Guard jurisdiction.
Read more: 55 killed, including 32 Cubans and 23 Venezuelans, in US raid to capture Maduro
What It Means For Global Oil Trade
The US is attempting to seize Venezuela's enormous oil reserves, which are thought to be the largest in the world. Trump has accused Venezuela of stealing American oil, seemingly alluding to the nation's nationalization of its energy sector. Washington had imposed an export embargo on Venezuelan oil since mid-December.
Due to the embargo, Venezuela has millions of barrels of oil loaded aboard tankers and in storage tanks that it is unable to transfer. After Venezuela president Maduro's capture by the US, Trump announced on Tuesday that Caracas and Washington had achieved an agreement to export up to $2.8 billion worth of Venezuelan crude to the US
The agreement would help Venezuela avoid further reductions in its oil production while diverting supplies from China. Trump has stated that he wants private businesses and the United States to have "total access" to Venezuela's oil sector under the acting President Delcy Rodriguez.
Traders and refiners purchasing Venezuelan oil have turned to a "shadow fleet" of tankers that conceal their location or to ships that are already prohibited from shipping Iranian or Russian oil since the United States imposed energy sanctions on the country in 2019.
What To Know About The Marinera Pursuit
The Marinera pursuit began late December 2025 when the tanker slipped through a U.S. maritime “blockade” of sanctioned tankers in the Caribbean Sea and rebuffed boarding attempts by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Once reflagged under the Russian Banner with a new identity painted on its hull, the vessel was tracked across thousands of miles. The US. Coast Guard also stopped a second ship connected to Venezuela in Latin American waters.
