Former RAF chief says Trump has called Putin’s bluff over tanker seizure

A ‘Tom Clancy-esque’ operation led to the dramatic seizure of an oil tanker linked to Russia and Venezuela by US forces in the Atlantic, according to a former British Air Vice-Marshal.  

Sean Bell said that Donald Trump’s administration had essentially called Russia’s bluff over its shadow fleet by completing the complex, two-week task of boarding the vessel today.   

US European Command confirmed that the Marinera had been seized in the North Atlantic for

The capture of the ‘nefarious’ Russia-bound vessel was supported by RAF aircraft and came on the same day that the US seized a ‘ghost fleet’ ship in international waters near the Caribbean. 

Two grainy screen grabs from Russian state broadcaster RT showed a helicopter approaching the Marinera, which had been navigating between Iceland and the UK when it was taken.  

Originally named the M/V Bella 1, the ship was Guyanese-flagged before switching to Russia and had been pursued by the US authorities across the Atlantic, reportedly prompting the Kremlin to deploy a submarine to try and escort it.  

How did ship evade US?

The US had previously tried to seize the vessel — said to be part of a Russian-Iranian attempt to evade sanctions — when it was in the Caribbean last month, apparently en route to Venezuela.  

Mr Bell, now a military analyst, told Metro: ‘It’s quite difficult to establish facts because it’s out of sight, out of mind and the military and the coastguard are probably not talking to the media. 

‘From a purely military perspective, the question is how does a massive ship like the Bella 1, travelling only at 10 knots, manage to evade the US military for two weeks?  

‘I’ve operated onboard Her Majesty’s carriers, which are also big ships, and you generally go back and forth on helicopters. It is quite tricky landing a helicopter on a big ship, particularly if it’s not welcome.

‘You need a ship on a steady course and you need the wind over the deck to be avoiding the infrastructure, otherwise you get all sorts of swirls and flurries. Landing is a team effort in a helicopter.

‘You can just drop people down on ropes but ships do tend to roll, particularly in the Atlantic, and can certainly pitch quite a long way, which can make life very difficult and dangerous for roping down, particularly if the weather isn’t fantastic.’ 

‘Flags of convenience’

The former fast jet pilot highlighted that the ship had reflagged from Guyanese to Russian, possibly in an attempt to gain protection.

‘We know that the Russians have loaned billions of dollars to Venezuela, to enable them to buy Russian military kit,’ he said. 

‘In return, Venezuela was due to provide oil to Russia. We don’t know, but that might explain why the Russians tried to take oil from Venezuela. 

‘What is clear is that this two-week, Tom Clancy-esque operation has finally succeeded not far off the coast of our shores.’ 

The action is part of an assertive American approach overseas, including the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro on Saturday following the US targeting of ‘narco-terrorists’ operating out of the country.   

Mr Bell said: ‘Russia has been operating a shadow fleet, and while I don’t claim to understand it fully, you can have a ship that’s owned by a Greek that sails under an Irish flag operating for an American company. They are called flags of convenience.  

‘The Russians have been using what’s called the shadow fleet for moving all sorts of things under sanction around the world, in effect, taking the Mickey out of the international community.  

‘What’s interesting is that the US is calling their bluff; saying you can’t just suddenly paint a flag on the side of a ship and then protect it if it’s moving sanctioned oil, we will intervene.  

‘In a way it’s not dissimilar to America’s threats to Greenland or going into Venezuela, they are feeling less constrained by international law and more focused on dealing with the situation as they see it.’ 

US defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a bullish confirmation of the US operation to intercept the two tankers. 

In a post on X, he said: ‘The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT — anywhere in the world.’ 

Mr Hegseth shared a similar message alongside a video of the second tanker, the M/T Sophia, which was seized in darkness by the US in international waters near the Caribbean.  

The UK Ministry of defense confirmed it had supported the US seizure in the North Atlantic this afternoon.  

defense Secretary John Healey said: ‘Today our UK Armed Forces showed skill and professionalism in support of a successful US interception of the vessel Bella 1 while on its way to Russia. 

‘This action formed part of global efforts to crack down on sanctions busting. This ship, with a nefarious history, is part of a Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion which is fuelling terrorism, conflict, and misery from the Middle East to Ukraine.

‘Nefarious history’

‘The UK will continue to step up our action against shadow fleet activity to protect our national security, our economy, and global stability – making Britain secure at home and strong abroad.’ 

The transport secretary confirmed that the UK provided ‘enabling’ assistance in the shape of some RAF air surveillance and a Royal Auxiliary fleet vessel called Tide Force that essentially provides fuelling.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Heidi Alexander said: ‘Everything that was done in full compliance with international law. 

‘We understand that the vessel in question had been sanctioned by the US when it sought to evade a blockade near Venezuela in December and the sanctions that the US had applied to this vessel were part of their counter Iran sanctions regime – and so really this vessel is part of what is known as the shadow fleet. It’s got a pretty nefarious history.’

Ms Alexander added: ‘It’s part of a Russia-Iran sanctions evasion access and we know that Iran has been seeking to sell oil against the sanctions that are in place. They use the proceeds from selling that oil that is transported on these shadow vessels to fund and fuel terrorism and fuel conflict and misery from the Middle East to Ukraine.  

‘So it was an important operation and we provided some enabling support and that operation was executed successfully.’ 

Moscow said the tanker was only temporarily flagged to Russia and accused the US of violating international law by seizing the vessel. 

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