The United States is attempting to seize a Russian-flagged oil tanker with links to Venezuela after a more than two-week-long pursuit across the Atlantic and as a Russian submarine and warship were close by, two US officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
The seizure, which could stoke tensions with Russia, came after the tanker, originally known as the Bella-1, slipped through a US maritime "blockade" of sanctioned tankers and rebuffed US Coast Guard efforts to board it.
The officials, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, said the operation was being carried out by the Coast Guard and US military.
This appeared to be the first time in recent memory that the US military has attempted to seize a Russian-flagged vessel.
They added that Russian military vessels were in the general vicinity of the operation, including a Russian submarine. It was unclear how close the vessels were to the operation, which was taking place close to Iceland.
Tanker is among vessels targeted by US
The US Coast Guard first attempted to intercept the vessel last month, but it refused to be boarded. Since then, it has registered under a Russian flag.
The tanker, now known as the Marinera, is the latest tanker targeted by the US Coast Guard since the start of US President Donald Trump's pressure campaign against Venezuela.
Separately, the US Coast Guard has also intercepted another Venezuela-linked tanker in Latin American waters, US officials told Reuters, as the US continues enforcing a maritime "blockade" of sanctioned vessels from Venezuela.
The moves come just days after US special forces swooped into Caracas before dawn on Saturday in a deadly raid to seize President Nicolas Maduro and take him to the United States. The US military turned him over to federal authorities for prosecution on charges involving alleged drug trafficking.
Top Venezuelan officials have called Maduro's capture a kidnapping and have accused the US of trying to steal the country's vast oil reserves, estimated to be the largest in the world.
In turn, Trump and top US officials have accused Venezuela of stealing US oil, in an apparent reference to the country's nationalization of its energy sector in several waves over the past half-century.
Russian state broadcaster RT reported on Wednesday that US forces appeared to be trying to board the Venezuela-linked oil tanker "Marinera" from a helicopter and published an image showing a helicopter hovering near the ship.
Reuters said it could not immediately verify the RT report.
RT cited an unnamed source as saying that a US Coast Guard vessel had been following the tanker and that an earlier attempt to seize it had already been carried out during a storm.
Russia’s foreign ministry has been cited by state media as saying that the ship, now flying the Russian flag, is in international waters and is acting in accordance with international maritime law.
The ministry has called on Western countries to respect the vessel’s right to freedom of navigation.
