(Jan 8): US forces seized two more sanctioned oil tankers as part of its energy quarantine of Venezuela, signalling that the Trump administration will ratchet up its pressure campaign days after capturing President Nicolas Maduro.
The first ship, the MV Bella 1, was seized in the Atlantic south of Iceland after a chase that began weeks ago when the vessel evaded capture near Venezuela and registered under a Russian flag in a bid to protect itself.
The Pentagon then announced the seizure of the M/T Sophia, another sanctioned vessel that officials said had been conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea.
“The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT — anywhere in the world,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X. The US European Command said the Bella 1 was seized for sanctions violations “pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court” after being tracked by a US Coast Guard vessel.
The capture of the two ships risks inflaming tensions with Russia. The Bella 1, sanctioned in 2024, had switched to a Russian flag — its crew even painted the Russian tricolor on its hull — and changed its name to the Marinera. Russia had sent a submarine and other naval assets to provide an escort for the vessel and asked the US to stop pursuing the vessel, The Wall Street Journal reported.
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The M/T Sophia, seized with support of the UK, was sanctioned in 2025 and had been involved in the Russian oil trade, taking on cargoes from smaller ships off the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in March 2023 and delivering them to China.
With the latest seizures, the US has now detained four tankers in the weeks since imposing the quarantine on ships going to and from Venezuela, according to TankerTrackers.com, which monitors the industry. It said all four are under US sanction and have transported oil on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is designated a terrorist group by the US.
The moves highlight how the administration is expanding the scope of its quarantine with a willingness to pursue ships even if they’re far away from Venezuela. In interviews after Maduro’s ouster on Jan 3, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said restricting the flow of oil would be a crucial way to exert leverage on the Venezuelan leaders who succeed him.
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On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said Venezuela would relinquish as much as 50 million barrels of its oil to the US, valued at more than US$2 billion. And on Wednesday morning, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the US plans to control future sales of oil from Venezuela indefinitely, and use the proceeds to rebuild the nation’s beleaguered economy.
“We need to have that leverage and that control of those oil sales to drive the changes that simply must happen in Venezuela,” Wright said.
While some countries have objected to the US seizures, others have played a role in helping. The UK confirmed Wednesday it supported the US operation to seize the Bella 1 following a US request for help.
Its armed forces provided surveillance support and allowed US military assets to station at UK bases, the UK Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
“The depth of our defence relationship with the US is an essential part of our security, and today’s seamlessly executed operation shows just how well this works in practice,” Defence Secretary John Healey said.
The seizure of the Bella marks the conclusion of a chase that began in late December when the tanker turned away from Venezuela and retreated out into the Atlantic Ocean in a bid to avoid a US quarantine. The Trump administration deployed its naval assets in the Caribbean to squeeze Maduro in the days before US special forces launched an operation to capture him.
Vessel tracking data show the Bella was heading towards Venezuela, where it would have loaded, before turning back while approaching the Leeward Islands. A video clip of the boarding of the Sophia posted on X shows the ship riding quite deep in the water, indicating that it was loaded.
Trade intelligence company Kpler lists the vessel as loading about two million barrels of Venezuelan crude from the Jose export terminal in late December.
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