Washington, Jan 7: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday declared that the Venezuela oil blockade was “in effect anywhere in the world” after American forces seized two sanctioned oil tankers in coordinated operations—one Russian-flagged vessel in the North Atlantic and another in the Caribbean Sea.
“The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT — anywhere in the world,” the Pentagon chief said following the operations.
A US official told news agency AP that the American military has “seized the vessel and handed over control to law enforcement officials”.
The Russian-flagged tanker Marinera, formerly known as Bella-1, was captured in the North Atlantic after a weeks-long pursuit by US forces. The vessel had been tracked since last month after it attempted to evade a US blockade around Venezuela.
The ship was sanctioned by Washington in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The US Coast Guard initially attempted to board it in the Caribbean in December as it headed for Venezuela, where the Trump administration has placed a naval blockade on sanctioned oil vessels. The ship refused boarding and headed across the Atlantic.
The tanker continued to be tracked as it sailed northeast, with US P-8 surveillance aircraft operating from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk monitoring its movement for several days. Open-source flight data showed the aircraft shadowed the ship as it moved northwards and passed close to the UK coast before it was eventually seized.
During the pursuit, the tanker’s crew painted a Russian flag on the hull and claimed the vessel was operating under Russian protection. Soon after, the ship appeared on Russia’s official maritime registry under a new name, Marinera, on December 31. Moscow subsequently lodged a formal diplomatic protest, demanding that the US halt its pursuit of the vessel.
While asserting Russian status could complicate the legal basis for seizure, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN that the Trump administration has not accepted that claim and continues to treat the vessel as stateless.
In a separate predawn operation, US personnel also apprehended the M/T Sophia, a sanctioned tanker operating in international waters in the Caribbean Sea. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed both vessels “were either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it”.
“In two predawn operations today, the Coast Guard conducted back-to-back meticulously coordinated boarding of two ‘ghost fleet’ tanker ships—one in the North Atlantic Sea and one in international waters near the Caribbean,” Noem said in a post on X.
US Southern Command, responsible for the Caribbean region, stated that personnel “apprehended a stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker without incident. The interdicted vessel, M/T Sophia, was operating in international waters and conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea”.
The UK confirmed that US surveillance operations used British bases but declined to comment on the seizure operation. Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said Downing Street won’t comment on the US operation involving the Venezuela-linked Marinera oil tanker.
“We don’t comment on the operational activity of other nations, including the third party use of UK bases,” the spokesperson told reporters during the regular Wednesday briefing, adding that this was “a long-standing position” of UK governments.
The seizures mark an escalation in the Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement of sanctions against Venezuela, with Defense Secretary Hegseth signaling that US forces will pursue sanctioned vessels globally regardless of their location or claimed flag status.
