NATO forces and several national militaries, including those of the United States, Britain, France, and Ireland, are closely monitoring an oil tanker linked to Venezuela that is attempting to evade a U.S. naval blockade. The vessel, formerly known as the Bella 1, has been renamed the Marinera and is now sailing under a Russian flag as part of what U.S. officials describe as Venezuela’s “shadow fleet” of sanctioned oil tankers.
The tanker was last reported roughly 250 miles off Ireland’s west coast, where surveillance aircraft from the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Ireland have been tracking its movements. According to intelligence sources cited by British media, the vessel fled the Caribbean last month to avoid capture by U.S. forces enforcing sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports. U.S. officials are said to be weighing whether to seize the ship, following a recent operation in which another Venezuelan tanker, the Skipper, was intercepted.
The ship is now listed in the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping and registered out of Sochi, Russia. Moscow has formally demanded that Washington halt any attempt to seize the vessel, a move that has heightened tensions between the two countries. Western intelligence agencies believe the tanker previously transported more than six million barrels of Iranian oil, frequently conducting ship-to-ship transfers at sea to obscure the origin and destination of its cargo.