US seizes Venezuela-trading tanker days after it switched to the Russian flag

US European Command said it seized the tanker it called Bella 1 in the North Atlantic for breaching sanctions on Venezuelan oil. Weeks earlier the US had tried to board the ship while it sailed under a fraudulent Guyana flag; it then renamed itself Marinera and registered in Russia, CNBC reports, citing Lloyd's List. The US seized a second tanker, Sophia, the same day; Kpler links it to Venezuelan, Iranian and Russian cargoes going back to 2021.

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