Britain will scale up action against President Putin’s shadow fleet, having helped the United States to seize an oil tanker bound for Russia after a weeks-long pursuit.
Marinera, previously known as Bella 1, was captured by US forces in the North Atlantic on Wednesday in an operation involving UK spy planes and a Royal Navy support ship.
Sources told The Times that the UK had been helping the US to plan the mission for as long as a week after the tanker slipped through a maritime blockade of Venezuela.
It could prove a new flashpoint in relations between the West and Moscow, whose transport ministry complained that the international law of the sea had been breached.
Another Venezuela-linked tanker, Sophia, was seized by the US in the Caribbean on Wednesday, according to the US Southern Command. Both were suspected of being used to evade sanctions.
The Ministry of Defence insisted Britain’s support in capturing Marinera was “in full compliance with international law”.
UK government sources tried to distance themselves from the Venezuela link, stressing that their involvement was part of a wider crackdown on Russia’s shadow fleet.
• False flags: how the shadow fleet is trying to hide behind Russia
John Healey, the defence secretary, told MPs that Marinera had transported more than seven million barrels of Iranian crude oil over the past four years which had been used to fund “terrorism, threats and instability across the world”.
He added that the vessel also had close links with Moscow and it was “telling” that the ship had changed to sail under a Russian flag after the US first tried to intercept it.
John Healey
PARLIAMENT TV/PA
“The UK will not stand by as malign activity increases on the high seas and alongside our allies,” he said. “We are stepping up our response against shadow vessels and we will continue to do so.”
He added: “This is a stark reminder that our world is changing. It is less predictable and more dangerous, and this operation and the shadow fleet show the global links between the security threats faced by the UK and its allies, and the shadow fleet itself is vital to Putin’s ongoing illegal invasion and war in Ukraine.”
An MoD source said that further operations against the Russian shadow fleet had not been ruled out.
It is understood the Pentagon asked Healey directly for help just before the new year. Healey briefed the prime minister and legal advice was sought on the participation of UK forces in the operation.
Marinera, previously flying a Guyanese flag, had been reregistered under a Russian flag on Christmas Eve.
However, government lawyers are said to have concluded that the tanker was effectively a “stateless vessel” and the change in registration was not valid. The Ministry of Defence, and US officials, have continued to refer to the vessel as Bella 1.
The vessel has had six names since 2020 and has sailed under five country flags. It is subject to anti-Iranian sanctions by the US as part of efforts to stop the regime in Tehran from selling oil.
The MoD said the ship had initially flown a false flag and was assessed to have been involved in illegal activity linked to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon.
American forces had pursued it over several weeks after it apparently escaped what President Trump described as the “total naval blockade” of Venezuela put in place in December.
They seized it on Wednesday as it sailed towards waters between Iceland and Scotland, apparently bound for the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk.
An RAF Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft was deployed on Tuesday to gather information on the tanker, which was then shared with the Americans, it is understood.
A P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft and a naval supply ship, RFA Tideforce, were among other British military assets that took part in the operation.
RFA Tideforce
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE/PA
An RAF Poseidon
JASPERIMAGE/ALAMY
The MoD also allowed the US to station its forces and aircraft at bases in the UK.
Among the latest were US special operations aircraft, which landed at Wick John O’Groats airport in northern Scotland before flying further north towards Iceland on Wednesday, according to flight tracking websites.
Wick John O’Groats Airport
ALAMY
Special forces soldiers were filmed abseiling to the deck of Marinera from helicopters.
Healey praised the “immense courage and professionalism” of US forces who took control of the tanker in “dangerous and deteriorating Atlantic sea conditions”.
He added: “The US is the UK’s closest defence and security partner. The depth of our defence relationship with the US is an essential part of our security and today’s seamlessly executed operation shows just how well this works in practice.”
The tanker, which was empty, is expected to be taken to the US.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, raised the prospect of its crew facing prosecution there. She said in a press conference: “The vessel seized in the North Atlantic … shows the USA is not going to tolerate that [ships breaching sanctions].
“This administration is going to fully enforce the sanctions policy.”
Trump took a swipe at America’s Nato partners after the operation, despite the British involvement.
“We will always be there for Nato, even if they won’t be there for us,” he wrote on his Truth Social site. “The only nation that China and Russia fear and respect is the DJT [Donald J Trump] REBUILT USA. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
Moscow accused the US of breaking the law and urged it to release the crew. Russia’s transport ministry said it had granted Marinera a “temporary permit to sail under the Russian Federation flag” on Christmas Eve.
It said that “no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states” under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Before the ship was seized, Andrei Fedorov, a Kremlin adviser and former Russian deputy foreign minister, warned such a move would “be considered as [an] attack on Russia, and it could lead to very critical or maybe even crisis situation in relations between Russia and US”.
He told World at One on BBC Radio 4 that Russian submarines, which have been speeding towards the tanker to escort it, would not fire on the US forces but could cause “technical difficulties” such as a “slight collision”.