In a display of maritime power, the U.S. Navy SEALs and Coast Guard personnel successfully boarded and seized the Russian-flagged tanker Marinera in the North Atlantic on 7 January 2026 after a high-stakes transoceanic pursuit that lasted for two weeks.
British surveillance aircraft and a Royal Navy refueling vessel supported the operation that took place near the strategic GIUK gap south of Iceland. Officials confirmed the vessel is now under U.S. control as part of a total blockade against Venezuelan oil exports.
The Marinera, formerly the Bella 1, became the center of an international standoff after evading a U.S. boarding attempt near Venezuela on 20 December 2025. Its crew reportedly painted a Russian flag on the hull to claim sovereign protection from U.S. authorities.
It was sanctioned by the U.S. government for allegedly carrying black-market Iranian oil. The oil tanker had previously transported Iranian oil, and it was en route to load Venezuelan oil purchased by a company associated with recently-sactioned Pedro Carretero.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance described the ship as a fake Russian vessel and a stateless entity, and asserted further that changing the name and registration of the ship while in flight would not protect it from the aggressive enforcement of the second Trump administration.
The seizure follows the dramatic capture of Nicolás Maduro on 3 January 2026. U.S. Delta Force operators seized the Venezuelan president during a pre-dawn raid on Caracas. He was later flown to New York to face serious federal narco-terrorism charges.
U.S. President Donald Trump, monitoring the operation from Mar-a-Lago, declared that the U.S. government is now in charge of the South American nation. He stated that the U.S. will oversee the vast Venezuelan oil sector until a stable transition occurs.
His administration has introduced and enforced the Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, also known as the Donroe Doctrine, a foreign policy asserting American dominance over the Western Hemisphere through more aggressive actions and operations.
Russia condemned the boarding as outright piracy and a violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS. The Russian government had previously deployed a submarine to escort the tanker, nearly leading to a direct military clash with the U.S.
Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, who was sworn in following the capture of Maduro, has expressed her willingness to work with the U.S. Despite her public protests, the blockade has effectively halted all unauthorized oil exports.
China joined Russia in criticizing the increasing U.S. aggressiveness. Chinese officials called the blockade brazen bullying. As a primary purchaser of Venezuelan crude, China views the U.S. maritime intervention as a direct threat to its global energy security.
FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES
- Holiday, S., Paris, C., and Kantchev, G. 6 January 2026. “Russia Sends Submarine to Escort Tanker the U.S. Tried to Seize Off Venezuela.” The Washington Post. Available online
- Lawler, D. 7 January 2026. “U.S. Defies Moscow, Seizes Oil Tanker Despite Russian Submarine Escort.” Axios. Available online