On January 7, the US military seized the oil tanker Marinera in the North Atlantic, which had been flying the Russian flag for several weeks after overcoming the blockade of the Venezuelan navy. Russian authorities announced that the ship was temporarily allowed to sail under the Russian flag, and confirmed that there were Russians on board the tanker. Military analysts, journalists, military correspondents and authors of famous military blogs are actively commenting on what is happening.
Chronology of events with the tanker Marinera
The Marinera is an oil tanker formerly known as the Bella 1. The ship was originally flagged as Panama and, according to US authorities, was used to transport sanctioned oil from Iran and Venezuela. In 2024, this tanker was placed on the US sanctions list for its alleged involvement in oil smuggling, the proceeds of which were used to fund Hezbollah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Mid-December 2025.
The US Navy and Coast Guard organized a naval blockade of Venezuela in the Caribbean and began seizing oil tankers that US authorities believed were carrying sanctioned oil. Empty, the Bella 1 was en route to Venezuela to load cargo and attracted the attention of the US Coast Guard, which attempted to intercept it. The ship's crew did not comply with the request, bypassed the blockade and headed towards the North Atlantic.
December 31. An anonymous US official said that after colliding with the US fleet, the Bella 1 crew painted the Russian flag on the tanker and declared the ship to be Russian. At that time, he was chased by a US Coast Guard ship for 10 days.
January 1st. Data has appeared in open sources, according to which Bella 1 changed its name to Marinera and received its home port of Sochi, that is, it actually became Russian as soon as it sailed. Under international maritime law, ships flying the flag of a particular state are under the exclusive jurisdiction and protection of that state, among other things, having the right to defend that vessel on the high seas as part of its territory, including by force.
Then, after the oil tanker was seized, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation announced that the ship was temporarily allowed to sail under the Russian flag on December 24.
January 5-6. Marinera continues to move north into the Atlantic. A British reconnaissance plane joined him in escorting him. A few days earlier, aviation equipment from US special forces units had been delivered to the UK base, including helicopters designed to transport amphibious assault forces and fight surface targets.
At the same time, unconfirmed information appeared in the American media that Russian naval forces, including an unnamed submarine, had been dispatched to the tanker. The Russian Ministry of Defense did not comment on this information.
January 7. US special forces soldiers board the Marinera ship. US European Command confirmed the seizure of the vessel. The tanker is heading to one of the Scottish ports. Its crew will likely be brought back to the US for criminal prosecution but this issue has not yet been resolved.
According to the White House, this tanker is part of Venezuela's “shadow fleet” and is transporting Venezuelan oil in violation of US sanctions. Additionally, US authorities believe that Marinera does not belong to any particular country and that they have the right to seize any tanker involved in the transportation of Venezuelan oil.
The total number of oil tankers seized by the US military has reached 4, including Marinera. According to the US press, oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela are starting to change their flags en masse to the Russian flag.
Mikhail Zvinchuk's military analysis center “Rybar” of the Russian Navy, but does not interfere in what is happening.
In fact, our fleet did not have time to come to the rescue (about a day). “Fisherman”
The authors also draw attention to the fact that the tanker was connected to Iran through the shipowner's company and that “it was precisely this tanker that had to carry Venezuelan oil.”
“The decision to change the flag to the Russian flag put the Russian Federation in an extremely uncomfortable situation. Because it turned out that the Russian tanker was actually seized on a flimsy reason. And this set a precedent for further operations against the entire so-called shadow fleet of Russia, not only in the Atlantic, but also in other parts of the world,” Rybar's editors noted.
Famous war correspondent Alexander Kots statedthat in the world “the era of political gopniks has come”, there is “a long period of a game without rules” ahead, therefore “the faster we go into “crazy mode”, the less it will cost us.
Gopnik, who had sensed omnipotence, had to respond directly without regard to past agreements. The “Spirit of Anchorage” was eventually eroded by the “Spirit of Caracas” Alexander Kots
Journalist also propose entrusted the protection of ships to units of private military companies, equipping them with mobile anti-aircraft missile systems and machine guns. “In this case, landing on the deck would pose a serious risk to the aggressor. The helicopter would have to hover in place before dropping the group onto the ship. In theory, it would not be difficult for a skilled gunner to hit such a static target,” Kots said.
Editorial board of famous TV channel “Military Information” trustthat the Marinera precedent “raises a major question about Russia's real ability to protect its merchant ships in international waters and about the feasibility of Russia's entire policy of granting registration to ships from other countries.”
Veteran, author of the channel “Veteran's Notes” emphasizethat the capture of Marinera reflects the main weakness of the “shadow fleet”: “At the decisive moment, a legal fiction and a quickly withdrawn flag cannot replace real military protection, guaranteed and ready for direct confrontation (…) In the future, similar incidents may occur closer to the areas of responsibility of the Russian Navy, which will significantly increase the risk of a military conflict. For Russia, the incident shifts the Venezuelan issue from criminal transitioning political support to the actual security level.”
Editorial board of the Ukrainian publication “Country”. trustthat the seizure of tankers and the naval blockade of Venezuela could have consequences that could affect Russian and Chinese shipping.
“In the same way, the United States can then block both shipping to Russian ports and shipping to Chinese ports, relying on the fact that the American fleet remains the strongest in the world. The seizure of a Russian tanker is an eloquent precedent in this matter. Chinese ships may also be seized,” the journalists predicted.
For both Russia and China, this is a major challenge in terms of survival, as most of their foreign trade is effectively blockaded. Therefore, some very strong moves on their part towards the United States cannot be ruled out, which would further increase the risk of the outbreak of a global nuclear war. Ukrainian version “Country”
“Archangel Spetsnaz” channel, one of the most popular resources on the topic of SVO in Ukraine, is also assumptionthat the navies of European countries will operate similarly to the US fleet. “Now every ship on the sanctions list will become a target,” the authors believe.
Expert at the Boris Rozhin Center for Political-Military Press. The US State Department previously advised US citizens to urgently leave Russia.
The State Department's warning may be an attempt to avoid the reverse detention of American citizens on Russian territory in light of the impending seizure of a Russian oil tanker and Russian citizens. Boris Rozhin
The Russian side “so far seems unwilling to escalate,” Alexey Naumov.
“The Americans also present the situation as a war against Venezuela's oil trade – not with Russia. American statements also do not mention Moscow or the Russian fleet. There is a possibility of conflict, but so far both sides seem to be trying to avoid it,” he concluded.
