Russia has deployed a submarine and other naval assets to accompany an oil tanker pursued across the Atlantic by the United States Coast Guard, escalating a sanctions-enforcement operation into a direct encounter with Russian military forces in international waters.
The vessel, now sailing as Marinera, was previously known as Bella 1. US officials told The Wall Street Journal that the tanker is currently empty after failing to enter Venezuelan ports to load oil, but that the Coast Guard has continued to shadow it as part of a wider campaign against vessels used to move sanctioned or illicit crude.
The incident follows a disputed boarding attempt in late December. The Coast Guard tried to intercept Bella 1 near Venezuela on 21 December 2025 and the crew refused to allow US personnel aboard.
In the days that followed the ship altered its identity. The crew painted a Russian tricolour on the hull and asserted Russian authority, complicating enforcement under maritime law.
On 1 January 2026 the tanker had been officially renamed and listed in the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. The Coast Guard suspended its operation to seize the vessel on 31 December after the appearance of Russian markings.
Tracking services have continued to place the ship in the North Atlantic on a northerly route. MarineTraffic listsMARINERA (IMO 9230880) as sailing under the Russian flag. A separate AIS-based service run by Maritime Optima saidthe ship was in waters off Iceland based on signals received within the previous hour.
A parallel strand of reporting has focused on air and maritime surveillance around the tanker. The Irish Times said US maritime patrol aircraft had been monitoring the vessel as it sailed north, reflecting heightened attention as it approached European waters.
Russia has presented the episode as a matter of lawful navigation. China Daily Asia quoted the Russian foreign ministry as saying the Russian-flagged vessel was sailing lawfully and that it was being tracked for several days by a US Coast Guard ship in international waters.
The United States’ interest in Bella 1 stems from sanctions and alleged links to Iranian oil shipments. In June 2024, the US Treasury said BELLA 1 was being identified as blocked property in which Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises S.A. had an interest, in the context of action targeting networks linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force.
US officials have pointed to a judicial basis for action. The US Justice Department secured a seizure warrant, citing the tanker’s alleged earlier role in transporting Iranian oil.
For US forces, the immediate constraint is the vessel’s claimed flag status. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a ship on the high seas is generally subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of its flag state, with only limited exceptions. Boarding can be justified in cases such as statelessness or a false flag. If the tanker is formally registered in Russia, however, any attempt at forced action would carry higher legal and political risk.
US officials told The Wall Street Journal that Moscow took the unusual step of granting Russian registration without the standard inspections and administrative formalities, presenting the move as a response to US detentions and seizures of tankers linked to sanctions evasion.
The Journal also reported that Russia asked Washington to end the pursuit, while Russian state media released footage it said showed US assets tracking the tanker.
