US seeks to seize tanker under Russian protection in the Atlantic

The United States is attempting to seize an oil tanker linked to Venezuela after more than two weeks of pursuit across the Atlantic Ocean.

Source: Reuters, citing US officials

Quote: "The seizure effort, which was first reported by Reuters, came after the tanker, originally known as the Bella-1, slipped through a US maritime blockade of sanctioned tankers in the Caribbean and rebuffed US Coast Guard efforts to board it."

Details: Officials speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters that the operation is being carried out by the US Coast Guard and the US military.

They added that Russian warships, including a Russian submarine, were present nearby during the operation.

The tanker, which has been renamed Marinera and is sailing under the Russian flag, is not the first vessel targeted by the US Coast Guard since the start of US President Donald Trump's pressure campaign against Venezuela.

US officials also told Reuters that the Coast Guard had intercepted another Venezuela-linked tanker in Latin American waters, as the United States continues to enforce a maritime "blockade" against sanctioned Venezuelan vessels.

Background:

• Earlier reports said that around a dozen oil tankers loaded with Venezuelan crude oil and fuel had left the country's territorial waters in "dark mode" (with transponders switched off) since the start of the year.
• Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA has begun cutting crude oil production as available storage capacity in the country runs out amid the ongoing US blockade, which has reduced exports to zero.
• US President Donald Trump said that Venezuela's interim authorities would transfer between 30 and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the United States.

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