Overview
- The Justice and Homeland Security departments confirmed the legal seizure of the tanker known as Bella 1, recently renamed Marinera, after U.S. special forces boarded it between Iceland and the British Isles.
- U.K. Defence Secretary John Healey said Royal Navy and Royal Air Force units supported the bloodless boarding, including the support ship RFA Tideforce and two surveillance aircraft operating from British bases under government authorization.
- Russia’s Transport Ministry said the vessel received temporary permission to fly the Russian flag on December 24, 2025, and reporting says Moscow deployed a submarine and issued warnings to Washington.
- Media and registry analyses report the ship is linked to Russian businessman Ilya Bugai through a company called Burevestmarine, though ownership findings remain subject to ongoing investigations.
- Open-source tracking and U.S. media reports say the ship conducted years of ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil that may have funded the Huthis and Hezbollah, and U.S. intelligence reportedly assessed that man-portable air-defense systems could have been aboard during an earlier intercept attempt.