It’s like a cold war thriller unfolding.
The Marinera, an oil tanker formerly called Bella 1, is sanctioned for shipping Iranian oil tied to groups like Hezbollah.
The ship had been trying to evade U.S. enforcement by reflagging to Russia and fleeing from the Caribbean toward northern Russia.
U.S. ships pursued it for weeks, outrunning a Russian submarine and escorts from the Northern Fleet.
Fox News reports that United States boarded the Russian-flagged Iranian-linked oil tanker, Marinera, this morning in the Northern Atlantic, before a flotilla of naval vessels could arrive to escort the ship from Russia.
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 7, 2026
U.S. forces boarded sanctioned oil tanker between Iceland and the British isles before Russian warships and a submarine could arrive, officials say. The tanker was previously called Bella 1, but had reflagged to become a Russian vessel.
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) January 7, 2026
Daily News reported:
“The seizure, which could stoke tensions with Russia, came after the tanker Marinera, originally known as the Bella-1, slipped through a US maritime ‘blockade’ of sanctioned tankers and rebuffed US Coast Guard efforts to board it.
Officials, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, said the operation is being carried out by the Coast Guard and US military.”
“Pictures in Russian media purportedly showed a helicopter approaching the vessel today.
The chopper appears to be an American MH-6 Little Bird.
American officials added that Russian military vessels were in the general vicinity when the operation took place, including a Russian submarine.”
⚡️BREAKING
US troops have seized the tanker Bella-1 near Iceland, the Russian Navy was unable to arrive on time
Americans have now directly seized Russian maritime asset pic.twitter.com/1bKNFtHDY2
— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) January 7, 2026
‼️‼️ #BREAKING Despite Russia deploying a submarine to protect the tanker Bella 1 in the Atlantic Ocean, U.S. airborne forces began helicopter landings on the tanker minutes ago. An operation is currently underway to seize the tanker belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet.
See… pic.twitter.com/RllpYGVPXU
— Visioner (@visionergeo) January 7, 2026
Report- The United States forces, seizing a second tanker in the Caribbean pic.twitter.com/e0VRVzs4Hn
— Karli Bonne’ (@KarluskaP) January 7, 2026
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
NOW – White House says seizure of Russian-flagged tanker “was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel” that was deemed “stateless after flying a false flag.” pic.twitter.com/eVYHLHzVGf
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 7, 2026
This is a breaking story – stay tuned for more information.
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