After several weeks of monitoring at sea, the United States implemented an operation to capture a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the Atlantic, which is linked to Venezuela.

According to NBC News, the vessel had changed its name from Bella 1 to Marinera, but the US Coast Guard noticed the maneuver and, presumably, opted to block its path.

Two officials consulted on condition of anonymity assured the television network that the Department of Homeland Security and the US military joined forces to track the Russian vessel since it was spotted off the coast of Venezuela last month. the Venezuelan coast to prevent the continued supply of oil to nations like Russia and China. Instead, President Donald Trump's immediate objective is to secure that oil, and for this reason, he intends to prevent any vessel from leaving Venezuela to sell hydrocarbons to other countries. Regarding the vessel named Bella 1, one of the cited officials indicated that it had been included on the United States sanctions list since June 2024, as it had been identified as sailing under a false flag, and therefore a court order for its seizure had been issued. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated in a press release that the detained vessel is named Marinera, dismissing its alleged connection to the one named Bella 1. “For several days, Marinera has been followed by a United States Coast Guard vessel, even though our vessel is approximately 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) from the US coast.

Currently, the vessel is sailing in international waters of the North Atlantic under the state flag of the Russian Federation and in full compliance with international maritime law.

At the same time, for reasons that remain unclear to us, the Russian vessel is receiving increasing attention from USand NATO military forces, attention that is clearly disproportionate to its peaceful nature,” the letter states.