US forces have seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the Atlantic in a dramatic move that could put Donald Trump on a collision course with Vladimir Putin.
The UK later revealed British armed forces provided support to
The interception of the vessel comes amid a climate of global instability, with tensions also growing between Mr Trump and Europe over the US president’s repeated threats to take over Greenland.
The diplomatic row over Greenland came just days after US forces entered Venezuela and seized its now-deposed president, Nicolas Maduro, in an extraordinary show of American military power. Mr Maduro was taken to New York, where he is facing drug charges.
Now, the capture of the Marinera, which appeared bound for a port or base in Scotland, could prove to be a new flashpoint in relations between the West and Moscow after Russia’s transport ministry appeared to suggest that international maritime law had been breached.
Mr Trump appeared to take a swipe at the US’s Nato partners following the operation, writing on social media: “We will always be there for Nato, even if they won’t be there for us. The only nation that China and Russia fear and respect is the DJT (Donald J Trump) REBUILT USA. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
His claim of a lack of Western support came despite British involvement in the interception of the Marinera. RAF surveillance craft and a naval supply ship, the RFA Tideforce, were among the British military assets which took part in the operation, according to the Ministry of Defence, which insisted the UK’s support was “in full compliance with international law”.
Defence secretary John Healey said: “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 sanctioned tanker has been pursued by the US over several weeks, after it apparently escaped what Mr Trump described as a “total naval blockade” of Venezuela put in place in December.
The Marinera is one of a “shadow fleet” of tankers carrying oil in breach of US and international sanctions. Currently empty, it hastily renamed itself from the Bella 1 and painted a Russian flag on its side in a bid to secure Russian protection after turning toward Europe.
Russia’s transport ministry said it had granted the Marinera, previously flagged in Guyana, a “temporary permit to sail under the Russian Federation flag” on Christmas Eve. It added that “no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states” under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
US European Command announced the seizure of the Marinera for “violations of US sanctions”, before it was then revealed that another sanctioned Venezuela-linked tanker was seized by the US. The Sophia was captured during a “pre-dawn” raid in the Caribbean on Wednesday, according to the US Southern Command. In a social media post on the back-to-back actions, US secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem said both ships were “either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it”.
The US military has now handed control of the Marinera to law enforcement officials after seizing it, a US official told The Associated Press.
