The U.S. seized two sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela in back-to-back actions in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean, officials said Wednesday.
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U.S. European Command announced the seizure of the merchant vessel Bella 1 for “violations of U.S. sanctions.” A Coast Guard cutter had pursued the tanker into the waters between Scotland and Iceland after it tried to avoid being ensnared by the U.S. blockade on sanctioned oil vessels around Venezuela.
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Then, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem revealed that U.S. forces also took control of the tanker Sophia in the Caribbean. In a social media post, she said both ships were “either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it.”
The Bella 1 was reflagged as Russian and renamed the Marinera after turning toward Europe. The U.S. military handed control of it to law enforcement officials after seizing it, said a U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations. The ship was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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