Two US Navy destroyers helped American forces chase down, board, and ultimately seize a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic after a weekslong chase across the ocean, a defense official told Business Insider on Thursday.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Bulkeley and USS Paul Ignatius “supported” the operations to seize the vessel, initially called Bella 1, on Wednesday, the official said.
The official declined to provide additional details about the warships’ role in the seizure, citing operational security concerns.
The destroyers’ involvement in the mission, which also included the Coast Guard and special operations forces, highlights the scale of the US military’s efforts to capture the oil tanker, on the run since it evaded a naval blockade. Flight-tracking data showed various aircraft were airborne either shortly before or during the operation.
The UK government said it supported the operation with a tanker and Royal Air Force surveillance aircraft. A NATO official told Business Insider that the alliance’s standing naval forces were not involved.
Bella 1, which has been described by the Trump administration as a “dark fleet” tanker operating in violation of sanctions, evaded a US naval blockade of sanctioned vessels near Venezuela last month and avoided attempts by the American military to board the vessel.
The tanker, sailing under the flag of Guyana, then fled north into the Atlantic, reflagged as a Russian vessel, and changed its name to the Marinera. On the run, the crew even painted the country’s tricolor on the hull.
The Coast Guard pursued the tanker for weeks. The unusual chase ended on Wednesday when American forces seized the vessel in waters about halfway between the UK and Iceland.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters that because the vessel had a judicial seizure order, the ship’s crew is “subject to prosecution for any applicable violation of federal law, and they will be brought to the United States for such prosecution if necessary.”
Russia’s foreign ministry condemned the seizure and said that threats to prosecute the tanker’s crew “are entirely unacceptable,” the state-owned news agency Tass reported on Thursday.
Separately, the US military said that it seized another sanctioned tanker — M/T Sophia — near the Caribbean Sea on Wednesday after it was “conducting illicit activities” in the region.
The back-to-back interdictions mark the latest in a string of vessel seizures that have occurred since the US announced last month that a naval blockade on sanctioned oil tankers trying to enter or leave Venezuela was going into effect.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the two tankers that were seized on Wednesday had either “last docked” in Venezuela or were sailing to the country.
“The United States continues to enforce the blockade against all dark fleet vessels illegally transporting Venezuelan oil to finance illicit activity, stealing from the Venezuelan people,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday after the operations. “Only legitimate and lawful energy commerce — as determined by the US — will be permitted.”
The US naval blockade was set up as part of a pressure campaign against Venezuela’s former president, Nicolás Maduro, whom the US had long accused of facilitating drug trafficking and other criminal activity, allegations he denies.
The campaign also included a massive US military buildup in the Caribbean that began in August. American forces carried out dozens of airstrikes on alleged drug boats over the following months, as President Donald Trump threatened to take action against Venezuela.
Tensions between Trump and Maduro culminated over the weekend, when the US staged a dramatic surprise operation to capture Maduro. American forces who raided his compound in Caracas were supported by more than 150 military aircraft.
Meanwhile, Trump has threatened additional action against other countries near Venezuela, including Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico.
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