United States of America (USA) seized two oil tankers under sanctions linked to Venezuela on Wednesday - one in the North Atlantic and the other in the Caribbean Sea, US officials said, AP reports.
The European Command of the USA announced that the tanker "Bela 1" was seized for "violation of American sanctions", and was in the waters between Scotland and Iceland, where it tried to avoid the American blockade of the sanctioned oil ships.
The American authorities announced that the military forces of that country took control of the tanker "Sofia" in the Caribbean Sea.
Tanker "Bela 1" was under in Russian flag and renamed "Marinera", and headed for Europe. He was sanctioned back in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
An unnamed U.S. official told the AP that the U.S. military "estimated the size of the vessel and then turned control over to law enforcement officials."
The media report that the ship, which is allegedly connected to Venezuela, renamed "Marinera" and that he had been "fleeing" from the American pursuit in the Atlantic in the previous days.
Earlier, Rasha Today reported that American armed forces had landed on the ship's deck and published a photo of a helicopter near the tanker.
Pete Hegseth: The blockade remains in full force
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett stated that the US blockade of Venezuelan oil remains fully in effect.
"The blockade of sanctioned and illegal Venezuelan oil remains in full force - anywhere in the world," Hegseth said on social media, moments after the ship's seizure
The tanker, which is empty and sailing towards Murmansk, was under constant escort of the United States Coast Guard in the previous days, although the vessel is about 4.000 kilometers away from the American coast, and on Wednesday the action continued.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the tanker, which is now sailing under the Russian flag, is in international waters and is acting in accordance with international maritime law.
Russia expressed the expectation that Western countries, which publicly advocate for freedom of navigation on the high seas, will begin to consistently apply that principle themselves.
