Scottish airports used as US seizes rogue Russian tanker
The operation to seize the rogue tanker sailing under the Russian flag came ‘too close for comfort’ for those living in the Western Isles, an MP said.
US armed forces have seized a Venezuela-linked oil tanker in the North Atlantic, with a flurry of military activity at Scotland’s most northerly airports as the UK provided support for the operation.
The US military said it had had boarded the Marinera, a Russian-flagged vessel previously known as Bella-1, on Wednesday, as it travelled north and eastwards through the waters between Iceland and Scotland. The vessel was said to have escaped Donald Trump’s “total naval blockade” of Venezuela, put in place in December.
Several US military planes and British surveillance aircraft had been seen patrolling the skies in the vicinity of the oil tanker in recent days as it travelled through the North Atlantic.
Flight-tracking websites showed US special operations aircraft landing at Scottish Government-owned Wick John O’Groats Airport before flying north towards Iceland. Other US military aircraft have been landing at and taking off from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray.
Stornoway and Benbecula airports in the Western Isles were used to host American aircraft, it is understood.
Successful US efforts to seize the vessel came “too close for comfort” for Hebrideans, warned Torcuil Crichton MP (Labour) of Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) constituency, who described the Atlantic Ocean as Britain’s “front line” against Moscow.
He made his comments as Defence Secretary John Healey appeared at the despatch box to take questions about the operation.
Mr Crichton said he wanted to “pay tribute to the role of the Royal Navy and RAF personnel in taking out this rogue tanker flying under the flag of a rogue nation”.
The Labour MP continued: “The Bella-1 was taken just a few hundred miles out into the Atlantic, which is too close for comfort if you come from the Western Isles.
“And I understand Stornoway and Benbecula airports hosted USAF (US Air Force) aircraft: Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft out of Stornoway and two V-22 Ospreys out of Benbecula.
“Can the minister give us more details of the role of Scottish airports in this operation?
“And does he agree with me that, yes, we have a front line in the Donbas, but the front line for us against Russia is our backyard – the wild North Atlantic?”
Mr Healey replied that Mr Crichton was “right on both counts”.
He told the Commons: “Part of the British and European front line is in the Donbas. He’s equally right that part of the front line for this nation and for Nato is the North Atlantic.
“And I am proud of the way that Scotland makes such a considerable contribution to the security of this country, and I’m proud of the way that part of the basing that was important for the US operation was indeed also in Scotland.”
Mr Healey had earlier told MPs that “a stateless vessel may be lawfully intercepted and subjected to the law of the interdicting state”.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the UK provided support for the seizure of the tanker, also known as Bella 1, with the operation at sea involving an RFA Tideforce vessel, while the Royal Air Force provided surveillance support.
The MoD said the UK’s support was in “full compliance” with international law, and came at the request of the US. It described the UK’s role as “pre-planned operational support, including basing to US military assets.”
It said the tanker had initially flown a false flag, and had previously been involved in illegal activity linked to Hezbollah. The Marinera was also subject to anti-Iranian sanctions on the part of the US as part of efforts to stop Tehran selling oil.
Defence secretary John Healey earlier said the UK’s armed forced showed “skill and professionalism” in supporting the successful US interception of the vessel, which he said was en route to Russia.
“This action formed part of global efforts to crack down on sanctions busting,” he added.
Mr Healey also said the ship had a “nefarious history” and was “part of a Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion which is fuelling terrorism, conflict, and misery from the Middle East to Ukraine.”
US homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, described it as a “meticulously co-ordinated” operation, and claimed the Marinera had been attempting to “evade” the US Coast Guard for weeks.
The tanker appeared to be sailing north-east between Iceland and the UK. It was one of two such oil tankers reportedly seized by the US on Wednesday.
Flight tracking websites showed US special operations aircraft landing at Wick John O’Groats airport, before flying further north towards Iceland on Wednesday.
The U-28A aircraft are used by the US Air Force’s special operations command and are used for intelligence-gathering and co-ordinating other aircraft.
P8 Poseidon submarine-hunting aircraft and KC-135 refuelling planes have also been seen on flight tracking websites, heading to the area near the tanker.
A British military transport aircraft, an Atlas A400M, could also be seen in the vicinity of the vessel, having left Brize Norton on Wednesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, an RAF RC-135W Rivet Joint surveillance plane was seen flying over the path of the tanker.
Other US military aircraft, including a C-146A Wolfhound, a twin-engine turboprop aircraft used by the US Air Force’s special operations command, have been landing and taking off at RAF Lossiemouth in Moray.
In a report on X, the US European Command - a unified combatant command of the US military headquartered in Germany - said that the US justice and homeland security departments, together with its department of war, had captured the vessel for “violations of US sanctions.”
It added: “The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro.
“This seizure supports [President Trump’s] proclamation targeting sanctioned vessels that threaten the security and stability of the western hemisphere. The operation was executed by DHS components with support from the department of war, showcasing a whole of government approach to protect the homeland.”
In a post on X responding to the seizure of the tanker, US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, wrote: “The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT - anywhere in the world.”
However, the Russian transport ministry accused the US of breaking the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. In a statement issued via Telegram, it said that “no state has the right to use force against ships properly registered in the jurisdictions of other states.”
It claimed that US forces boarded the Marinera at around 12pm, after which communication with the vessel - which had temporary permission to sail under the Russian flag - was lost.
The end to the weeks-long US pursuit of the tanker comes after the Trump administration's weekend raid on Venezuela , which led to the removal and capture of its then president Nicolas Maduro.
Ahead of the Marinera's seizure, Kremlin adviser and former Russian deputy foreign minister Andrei Fedorov warned such a move would be considered an attack on Russia .
“For Russia , it's a very important thing, because if there will be attack from US, it will be considered as attack on Russia , and it could lead to very critical or maybe even crisis situation in relations between Russia and US,” he told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme.
Mr Fedorov said Russian submarines speeding towards the tanker would not fire on the US forces but could cause “technical difficulties” such as a “slight collision.”
He said the Marinera was registered in Sochi within hours after it painted a Russian flag on its side to change flags from Venezuelan to Russian.
The US Southern Command said it has seized an oil tanker in the Caribbean sea in a pre-dawn operation on Wednesday. In a statement, the US military said the “stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker,” known as M/T Sophia, was conducting illegal activities, and was now being escored to the US by the US Coast Guard.
Chloe Oakshett, managing associate at Addleshaw Goddard LLP and a leading shipping and maritime lawyer, said the fact the Marinera was accepted on to the Russian ship registry last month raised questions over whether it would would accept other such vessels to sail under the Russian flag.
She described the Marinera as a “known risk,” pointing out it had been sanctioned, and had a “dubious voyage history, adding: “. It would certainly have been easier for Russia to have left the Bella-1 at large without conspicuously getting involved. Instead, Russia have literally pinned their colours to the Marinera’s mast. In doing so the vessel is now out of the shadow fleet and very much Russia's asset, with all the diplomatic implications of that.”
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