The United States announced the seizure of Vera 1 due to sanctions violations. After recently being reflagged in Russia, the ship, known as Marinella, was captured in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro.
Source: @US_EUCOM | US Coast Guard | Via X
The United States on Wednesday said it had seized two tankers, one of which was newly registered with Russia, in an attempt to block oil exports from Venezuela under sanctions.
U.S. European Command announced in a post on
The ship, now named Marinella, is simply a ship reflagged by Russia to join its “dark” fleet.
“This has moved beyond sanctions litigation to a real-time jurisdictional issue. The key question is what legal basis exists for high seas enforcement,” Dimitris Ampatsidis, senior risk and compliance analyst at energy consulting firm Kpler, told CNBC. “While the ship’s identity and history remain the same, its flag status could significantly increase the diplomatic risk.”
According to maritime lawyers who spoke to CNBC, ships are essentially considered floating islands of the country whose flag they fly.
Automatic Identification System tracking data from Kpler shows a vessel’s route and the course changes it makes.
Marinella Road, also known as Bella 1
marine transportation
Kpler’s AIS data (real-time location information sent by ships) shows the tanker recently made a sharp turn in the Atlantic Ocean near Scotland.
More than two weeks before the ship was seized, the U.S. stopped a tanker illegally registered as Guyanese-flagged Bela 1 on its way to Venezuela to load sanctioned crude oil, and attempted to board the tanker.
Russia notified the United States on Dec. 31 that it had changed the ship’s name to Marinella and changed its registration to Russia, according to Lloyd’s List. The ship left the Caribbean.
Another new Russian-flagged tanker involved in transporting Venezuelan oil, the Premier, was reflagged to Russia from Gambia on December 22, but remains empty outside Venezuela’s Jose terminal, according to Lloyd’s List Ship Tracking.
Photo of Russian-flagged Marinella, former sanctioned ship Bela 1
marine transportation
In another X-post on Wednesday, US Southcom announced that the Panamanian-flagged tanker Sofia had been seized and was being escorted to the US by the US Coast Guard.
Emmanuel Belotorino, Kpler’s senior manager of oil market data, told CNBC that the Sofia was carrying about 2 million barrels of crude oil and was loaded into Venezuela’s José oil terminal between Dec. 26 and Dec. 29, as confirmed by satellite images and port reports seen by Kpler.
The tanker’s previous voyage was also from Venezuela, when it headed off the coast of Malaysia in early August 2025 with about 2 million barrels of crude oil, Belostorino said.
“It is highly likely that the sanctioned cargo was transferred to another ship via ship-to-ship transfer, but Kupler has not identified the affiliated ship.”
According to Kpler’s analysis, Sofia’s involvement in sanctions trade may date back to November 2021. In addition to transporting sanctioned Venezuelan crude, the ship is also involved in transporting sanctioned Iranian and Russian crude to China, according to Kpler.
The seizure of the Sofia followed the seizure of the Panamanian-flagged Centuries on December 27. Maritime experts told CNBC that the seizures may have been made under the 2002 Salas-Becker agreement, which allows U.S. authorities to board Panamanian-flagged ships with as little as two hours’ notice.
