The US Coast Guard seized two oil tankers linked to Venezuela, including a Russian-flagged vessel, in the North Atlantic as part of sanctions enforcement. One tanker had evaded US forces for weeks, escalating tensions with Russia over illicit oil trade.
The United States on Wednesday stated that it has seized the Russian-flagged oil tanker, M/V Bella 1, in the North Atlantic Sea after weeks of pursuit by the US Coast Guard warship after it evaded a US blockade of sanctioned oil tankers near Venezuela for over a fortnight.