The United States has seized the sanctioned supertanker Bella 1 in the North Atlantic, U.S. European Command said on Tuesday, confirming the culmination of days of heightened surveillance and military-backed enforcement activity.
In a statement, U.S. European Command said the vessel was seized “for violations of U.S. sanctions” following an operation carried out under a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court. The tanker was taken into custody after being tracked by the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro, according to the announcement.
The seizure was conducted by U.S. Department of Homeland Security components, with support from the Department of War, and involved coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice. Officials described the operation as a whole-of-government effort to enforce sanctions and prevent the vessel from evading restrictions by fleeing toward Europe or Russian-controlled waters.
This seizure supports @POTUS Proclamation targeting sanctioned vessels that threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere. The operation was executed by DHS components with support from @DeptofWar, showcasing a whole-of-government approach to protect the homeland.
— U.S. European Command (@US_EUCOM) January 7, 2026
EUCOM said the action supports a presidential proclamation targeting sanctioned vessels that “threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere.” The tanker, previously known as Marinera, had been under sustained U.S. surveillance for weeks due to its role in transporting Venezuelan oil exports in defiance of U.S. sanctions.
The confirmation follows reports earlier in the day that U.S. forces were preparing to board the vessel as it manoeuvred between the British Isles and Iceland. In the hours leading up to the seizure, open-source tracking showed intensive Western intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activity across the North Atlantic, including signals intelligence and maritime patrol aircraft operating in the region.
The tanker had recently reflagged and altered course in an apparent attempt to complicate enforcement efforts. Analysts have consistently noted, however, that sanctions enforcement is based on a vessel’s ownership, operational history and registration, rather than its painted name or flag state.
Neither U.S. European Command nor the Department of Homeland Security provided details on the precise location of the seizure or the disposition of the crew. There was also no immediate comment from Russia, which had earlier indicated it was monitoring the situation involving the vessel.
What’s the charge, Speeding ?
Apparently it was producing Fentanyl on mass and delivering it via Seagulls and Russian trained dolphins… or at least that’s what Trump dreamt.
Surely they could have just blown the shit out of it like the “fishing boats” ?
Or was that a different dream 🤔😁
Failure to execute an emergency stop when President Trump hit the dashboard with his sanctions papers.
😁 that’s the spirit !
Unauthorised wearing of uniform — rust masquerading as a ship.
Going to be very interesting to see how this one plays out.
Seriously wondering if we’ll get to 2028 without Twump finding an excuse to use a nuke on someone, somewhere…
that’ll surely stop the main drug exporters Mexico and Colombia !
To note there around 10-12 RAF Eurofighters in the air along the East coast of the UK during the operation, supported by RAF refueling. There were infact 73 RAF aircraft in the skies during that time period – coicidence….??? I don’t recall seeing anywhere near that number in recent times!
There is no low flying trains listed in the timetable today and no exercises I can find scheduled.
Nice to know we can get so many aircraft up if required. That’s easily enough to take what’s left of Russias long range bomber fleet out.
Valley, Shawbury and Cranwell were and are still busy… well Valley has stopped … because it’s first week back after the holidays. Lots of usual activity, so mostly coincidence… There was Poseidon over the Western Isles but that’s since be doing rollers through Aldergrove. An Atlas went to Keflavik at he time of the seizure but was at 30,000 ft so not involved directly. It’s now off to Portsmouth Maine. Possibly more interesting is the Envoy out of Northolt en route to Canada or US. I wonder who is on board The PM was doing PMQ when it took off. I’ll watch where it lands. Might just be high rank military.
Good info, thanks. All routine stuff by the sounds of it.
Obviously the tug towing the Russian ship wasn’t fast enough👍
Is this not piracy?
Little bit 😀
One has to wonder why they sent so much stuff to the UK only to fly an AH6 all the way out to this tanker, it would probably be operating at extreme range if it flew from the UK.
The US coast guard cutter Munro has aviation facilities for it to land and refuel but this seems extremely risky to catch a tanker at sea which is a simple job.
This operation has the appearance of the Navy and Marines not being involved and the Army special operations command going out of its way to do a job it’s not that specialised in.
Thankfully it all seems to have gone well but stuff going down in the North Atlantic in January in an AH6.
Perhaps they were more worried about a potential effort by Russia to protect the tanker – maybe submarine escort, though it seem to have come to nothing.
No surprise Russia is trying to look like it’s not involved, they are claiming it was only temporarily registered to them.
They don’t want to look as useless as they are to what’s left of their third world client states.
Maybe the tanker is full of Persian Arabian horses for Russia’s cavalry? They didn’t want the ship seized, as that’s embarrassing and these 🐎 aren’t cheap!
😁
“UK Armed Forces provided pre‑planned operational support, including basing, to U.S. military assets interdicting the Bella 1 in the UK‑Iceland‑Greenland gap following a U.S. request for assistance. RFA Tideforce provided support for U.S. forces pursuing and interdicting the Bella 1, while the RAF provided surveillance support from the air.
The UK and U.S. defence and security relationship is the deepest in the world and the UK provided enabling support in full compliance with international law.
This ship, with a nefarious history, is part of a Russian‑Iranian axis of sanctions evasion which is fuelling terrorism, conflict, and misery from the Middle East to Ukraine.
The UK will continue to step up our action against shadow fleet activity to protect our national security, our economy, and global stability – making Britain secure at home and strong abroad.
The U.S. is the UK’s closest defence and security partner. The depth of our defence relationship with the U.S. is an essential part of our security, and today’s seamlessly executed operation shows just how well this works in practice.
The ship was initially flying a false flag, then turned off its transponders while at sea and sought to reflag while being pursued, indicating its nefarious links to global sanctions evasion.
Recent assessments show that the Bella 1 has been involved in illegal activity, linked to international terrorism and crime including Hezbollah, and part of the web of rising shadow activity that fuels and finances nefarious activity across the globe.
The Russian flagging of the vessel shows their role in this interconnected shadow activity we are seeing across the world, which threatens our national security, harms our economy and undermines global security.”
UK MoD statement, quoted live by BBC News
translation : the US gives the orders, the UK obeys
Probably some actual grown ups in the US military and they asked for help!
See new article for Info.
If all that is true, then I have no issues with this at all.
How many calls here have there been to stop ships dragging anchors over seabed cables?