British RAF spy planes and submarine hunters assisted US special forces in boarding an empty Russian-flagged Venezuelan oil tanker in the North Atlantic. The vessel, named Marinera, had been chased across oceans, switched its nationality to Russian mid-journey, and painted Moscow's flag on its side while being shadowed by a Russian submarine.
The operation, which the source describes as an expensive performance, saw the UK deploy P8 Poseidon and A400M Atlas aircraft. Despite the Kremlin's condemnation of Donald Trump's actions against Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro, the tanker's voyage ended without confrontation between the two nuclear powers.
Trump has claimed that Venezuela's oil, which he says the US will now control, will be sold to benefit both the US and Venezuela. The Marinera was part of a shadow fleet evading US sanctions to sell oil to China. Russia funds its war against Ukraine with fossil fuel sales, and the shadow fleet of at least 1,000 ships moves over 18 per cent of the world's oil from sanctioned countries.
Seizures of such oil tankers by Ukraine's allies are rare. China's foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning criticised the US action as bullying. The source suggests that the drama of the seizure suits Russia and China, as it allows them to object while pursuing their own geopolitical goals.
