Oil ship seized by the U.S. over Venezuela sanctions was newly registered under Russian flag

The U.S. said Wednesday that successful its effort to blockade sanctioned lipid exports from Venezuela, it seized 2 tanker ships, 1 of which was newly registered nether the Russian flag.

In a station connected X, the U.S. European Command said the tanker — which it called Bella 1, the ship's erstwhile sanction — had been seized successful the North Atlantic for violations of U.S. sanctions connected Venezuelan oil.

The ship, present named Marinera, is conscionable 1 that Russia has reflagged to articulation its "dark" fleet.

"This has moved beyond a sanctions lawsuit into a real-time jurisdictional challenge, wherever the cardinal question is what ineligible ground exists for enforcement connected the precocious seas," Dimitris Ampatzidis, elder hazard and compliance expert astatine vigor consulting steadfast Kpler, told CNBC. "The vessel's individuality and past stay constant, but its emblem presumption tin importantly rise the diplomatic stakes."

Automatic Identification System tracking information by Kpler shows the way of the vas and the diversion the vas made.

Kpler's AIS information — real-time determination accusation transmitted by ships — shows that the tanker precocious made a crisp crook successful the Atlantic Ocean adjacent Scotland.

More than 2 weeks earlier the vessel was seized, the U.S. stopped and attempted to committee the tanker, which was registered arsenic the Bella 1 nether a fraudulent Guyana flag, during the ship's transit to Venezuela to beryllium filled with the sanctioned crude.

On Dec. 31, Russia notified the U.S. that the vessel had changed its sanction to Marinera and switched its registration to Russia, according to Lloyd's List. The vas near the Caribbean.

Another recently Russian-flagged tanker linked to moving Venezuelan oil, the Premier, which was reflagged from Gambia to Russia connected Dec. 22, remains bare extracurricular the Jose terminal successful Venezuela, according to Lloyd's List vas tracking.

In a abstracted X station Wednesday, U.S. Southcom announced that the Panama-flagged tanker Sophia had been seized and was being escorted to the U.S. by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Sophia is laden with astir 2 cardinal barrels of crude lipid that was loaded astatine Jose Oil Terminal successful Venezuela astir Dec. 26-29, arsenic confirmed by outer imagery and larboard reports seen by Kpler, Emmanuel Belostrino, elder manager of crude lipid marketplace information astatine Kpler, told CNBC.

The tanker's erstwhile voyage was besides from Venezuela, erstwhile it likewise loaded astir 2 cardinal barrels of crude successful aboriginal August 2025 earlier heading to offshore Malaysia, Belostrino said.

"The sanctioned cargo was apt transferred to different vas via acheronian ship-to-ship transfer, but Kpler has not determined the spouse vessel," helium said.

The seizure of the Sophia comes aft the Dec. 27 seizure of the Panama-flagged vessel Centuries. Maritime experts person told CNBC these seizures whitethorn person been conducted nether the 2002 Salas-Becker agreement, which allows U.S. authorities to committee Panamanian-flagged vessels with conscionable 2 hours' notice.