3 Indians among 28 crew members onboard Russian-flagged oil tanker seized by US for Venezuela links: Report

The Russian-flagged oil tanker seized by the US military on Wednesday had a crew of 28 people, which included three Indian nationals, Russia Today reported.

The Russian-flagged oil tanker ‘Marinera’ was seized in the North Atlantic after the US forces tracked it from the Caribbean Sea, the report added, citing Russia’s Transport Ministry. The US authorities stated that they seized the tanker due to its alleged links to Venezuela.

According to the RT report, the vessel was chartered by a private trader and was named Bella 1. It was operating under the flag of Guyana. Its crew consisted of 28 people, including six citizens of Georgia, 17 of Ukraine, three of India, and two Russians.

The seizure came after the tanker slipped through a US maritime "blockade" of sanctioned tankers and rebuffed US Coast Guard efforts to board it. Two US officials cited in a Reuters report said the operation was carried out by the Coast Guard and the US military.

According to Reuters, this appeared to be the first time in recent memory that the US military has seized a Russian-flagged vessel. It also comes just days after a dead-in-the-night operation by the US Special Forces in Caracas, which resulted in the "capture" of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last Saturday.

A senior Russian lawmaker from the ruling United Russia party, Andrei Klishas, described the US action as an act of outright piracy, according to the TASS state news agency.

Russia's transport ministry said it had lost all contact with the vessel, the Marinera, after US naval forces boarded it.

RT showed an image of a helicopter hovering near the Marinera and said it looked like US forces were trying to board the US-sanctioned tanker.

One of them, merchant vessel Bella 1, was Russian-flagged and had changed its name to the Marinera after fleeing the American blockade of Venezuela last month. The Southern Command further confirmed that M Sophia, which was Panama-flagged, is under sanctions. It was described as a ‘stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker’.

Then, US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a social media post that both ships were ‘either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it’. Noem explained the US's actions. She said that the Coast Guard ‘conducted back-to-back, meticulously coordinated boarding of two “ghost fleet” tanker ships’.

“Both vessels —the Motor Tanker Bella I and the Motor Tanker Sophia—were either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it," she posted on X.

“One of these tankers, Motor Tanker Bella I, has been trying to evade the Coast Guard for weeks, even changing its flag and painting a new name on the hull while being pursued, in a desperate and failed attempt to escape justice. The heroic crew of the USCGC Munro pursued this vessel across the high seas and through treacherous storms— keeping diligent watch, and protecting our country with the determination and patriotism that make Americans proud. These brave men and women deserve our nation’s thanks for their selfless devotion to duty,” she added.

The UK stated that it provided support to the US in its seizure of Bella 1.

“UK Armed Forces provided pre-planned operational support, including basing, to US military assets interdicting the Bella 1 in the UK-Iceland-Greenland gap following a US request for assistance,” the defence ministry said in a statement.