{"id":2530887,"date":"2026-01-07T09:21:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-us-seizes-venezuelan-shadow-tanker-being-escorted-by-russia\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T09:22:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:22:39","slug":"breaking-us-seizes-venezuelan-shadow-tanker-being-escorted-by-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-us-seizes-venezuelan-shadow-tanker-being-escorted-by-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking: US Seizes Venezuelan &#8216;Shadow Tanker&#8217; Being Escorted by Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbreaking-us-seizes-venezuelan-shadow-tanker-being-escorted-by-russia%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2530887&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>U.S. authorities seized an oil tanker that is part of the so-called &#8220;shadow fleet&#8221; moving illicit oil, after a two-week pursuit in the Atlantic. Coast Guard teams boarded the vessel-now called the Marinera, formerly Bella 1-without resistance. Russia sent naval assets, including a submarine, to escort and protect the ship after it changed name and registry to a russian flag following an earlier U.S. boarding attempt in December. U.S. officials say the tanker had flown a false flag and was subject to a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >seizure order amid allegations<\/a> it carried Iranian oil linked to support for terrorist groups. NATO and British aircraft helped track the vessel,which was reported in the North Atlantic between Iceland and Britain and possibly headed toward Murmansk.Experts warned that a legitimate change of registry complicates enforcement as a flagged state can claim protection, while others questioned whether repeated Russian intervention would indicate an effort to shield the shadow fleet. Russia&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-asks-olympics-committee-to-explain-deals-with-chinese-slave-companies\/\" title=\"Congress Asks Olympics Committee to Explain Deals with Chinese Slave Companies\">foreign ministry defended<\/a> the ship&#8217;s conduct in international waters and criticized U.S. and NATO actions as disproportionate. The Marinera has used multiple names and flags as 2020, highlighting the challenge of policing sanctioned shipping.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Part of what is called the &ldquo;shadow fleet&rdquo; of oil tankers that bring illicit oil to markets has been seized by the U.S. in the Atlantic Ocean despite Russia sending naval vessels to protect it.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Homeland Security and military units have seized the ship, according to a Wednesday report from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/venezuela\/us-seize-russia-flagged-oil-tanker-bella1-marinera-venezuela-rcna252738?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&amp;taid=695e608526fe2c00014c5213&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Coast Guard members who boarded the ship did not receive any opposition, according to a report in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/applewebdata:\/\/64B86D76-C950-4D97-A4CC-767DE1057F55\/The%20U.S.%20Coast%20Guard%20has%20successfully%20boarded%20the%20oil%20tanker%20after%20a%20roughly%20two-week%20pursuit,%20according%20to%20a%20U.S.%20official%20briefed%20on%20the%20operation.%20The%20U.S.%20Coast%20Guard%20encountered%20no%20resistance%20or%20hostility%20from%20the%20crew,%20the%20official%20said.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The New York Times<\/a>, which cited a U.S. official it did not name.<\/p>\n<p>Russia sent a submarine and other ships to protect what is now called the Marinera, but was known as the Bella 1 in the two weeks it tried break the American blockade of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-trump-orders-largest-armada-ever-assembled-in-the-history-of-south-america-to-blockade-venezuela\/\" title=\"Breaking: Trump ...s \u2018Largest Armada Ever Assembled in the History of South America\u2019 to Blockade Venezuela\">sanctioned oil tankers<\/a> near Venezuela, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/world\/russia\/russia-sends-submarine-to-escort-tanker-the-u-s-tried-to-seize-off-venezuela-4bd78dc7?st=n8Ruv8&amp;reflink=desktopweb_permalink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Wall Street Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. tried to board the ship in December, but it sailed into the Atlantic, changed its name and changed its registration to reflect it was a Russian ship.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Coast Guard has followed the ship into the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/01\/07\/world\/venezuela-us-trump?smid=nytcore-ios-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The New York Times<\/a> reported that the ship was in the north Atlantic on Wednesday between Iceland and Great Britain, with a possible destination of Murmansk, a Russia port.<\/p>\n<p>The Journal reported that when U.S. forces began their pursuit, the Bella 1 was flying a false flag and was also subject to a seizure order.<\/p>\n<p>The ship was alleged to have carried Iranian oil to support terrorist organizations.<\/p>\n<p>Experts said the Russia connection could be a complication.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Once it&rsquo;s legitimately registered, it gets the protection of the flag,&rdquo; said retired Rear Adm. Fred Kenney, former director of legal affairs and external relations at the International Maritime Organization. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not retroactive, you can&rsquo;t say it was stateless two weeks ago so we&rsquo;re going to say it&rsquo;s stateless now.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Will Russia step in and protect the dark fleet on a regular basis? That would undercut the argument that they have legitimate ties to the vessels,&rdquo; William Baumgartner, former judge advocate general and chief counsel for the Coast Guard, said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If they repeat this, it does raise the question of whether this is a legitimate change in registry, or if it appears to be done for nefarious reasons.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Aircraft from Britain and other NATO allies helped track the ship, which is part of the &ldquo;shadow fleet&rdquo; carrying oil despite sanctions, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/uk\/defence\/article\/venezuela-oil-tanker-uk-nato-planes-mzdd5532r?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqc-LJO0sU3ByXC-WCFbR_56c4JORxJ4ObCyssLKSLRXAx4n0ayxIj5dLcD0KC0%3D&amp;gaa_ts=695d72ca&amp;gaa_sig=bc6pZPWcFdHPLg8GfpSx4W0JJodGHU2QGhNgKWFd0oYEQGG9J7wJ6-Jd-4LdF__1-4RY5eXYhd00un_40keEQA%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;At present, our vessel is sailing in the international waters of the North Atlantic under the state flag of the Russian Federation and in full compliance with the norms of international maritime law,&rdquo; Russia&rsquo;s foreign ministry said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For reasons unclear to us, the Russian ship is being given increased and clearly disproportionate attention by the US and Nato military, despite its peaceful status. We expect that western countries, which declare their commitment to freedom of navigation on the high seas, will begin adhering to this principle themselves.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Marinera has used six names since 2020, and sailed under the flags of five nations.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. seizes &#8220;shadow fleet&#8221; tanker in Atlantic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2530888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Michael-Featured-Image-514.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[38830,4280,70298,70297,50813],"class_list":["post-2530887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-maritime-security","tag-russia","tag-shadow-tanker","tag-us-seizure","tag-venezuela-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Michael-Featured-Image-514.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2530887"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2530891,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530887\/revisions\/2530891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2530888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2530887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2530887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2530887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}