"Shadowy maritime threat" posed by Russia will be challenged by Royal Navy as "nefarious" Bella 1 seized
.jpg?width=96&crop=1:1,smart)
Nefarious vessels that avoid sanctions and fund Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine will face a strong response from the UK, the defence secretary has said.
John Healey confirmed the UK’s involvement in the US mission to seize the Russian oil tanker Marinera, also known as Bella 1. Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA Tideforce monitored the vessel alongside RAF surveillance aircraft, as it was seized by the Americans.
The sanctioned vessel is believed to have evaded the US naval blockade of Venezuela, and was seen travelling today between the British Isles and Iceland and followed by the US Coast Guard. Mr Healey told the House of Commons that the UK supported the US operation to aid its “crack down on sanctions busting and shadow shipping activity”, allowing UK bases to be used and for airborne and naval surveillance to be used.
“The Bella 1 was falsely flagged and subject to US counter Iran sanctions,” he said. “The vessel refused to comply with the US exercise of its sanctions jurisdiction on December 28. This is a sanctioned stateless vessel which carries a long history of nefarious activity, which shares close links with Iran and Russia.
“This was a US operation. No UK personnel took part in the boarding. The operation is ongoing, but the Bella 1 is now under the control of US forces, who demonstrated immense courage and professionalism in dangerous and deteriorating Atlantic sea conditions.
“A stateless vessel may be lawfully intercepted and subjected to the law of the interdicting state. The US enforcement action was based on counter-Iran sanctions aimed at stopping Iran from fuelling instability through the profits of illegal oil sales."
Mr Healey said the UK supported USA’s actions to enforce counter-Iran sanctions, tackle the global security threat posed by “shadowy maritime activity”, and reinforce British homeland security in an era of rising threats. He added that the vessel was sanctioned in 2024 and seized for illegally transporting Iranian oil, falsely flying a Guyana ensign.
The defence secretary said 7.3m barrels of Iranian crude oil has been transported by shadow vessels, which has been used to fund terrorism and export violence through proxies including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iraqi militias. Such action has been used to fund Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, as well as Iran providing weapons and drones.
“It’s telling that in an attempt to evade a seizure warrant, it changed its name and tried to adopt the Russian flag.” Mr Healey said Bella 1 is part of an increasing web of shadow shipping that threatens our national security, which sold £100bn of sanctioned Russian oil last year. He added that it has changed its flag five times in five years.
“We owe it to the Ukrainians to step up action on these shadow operations. We’re deterring, disrupting, and degrading the Russian shadow fleet as a priority. We’ve imposed sanctions on 544 vessels - so far forcing 200 ships off the seas, almost half of the Russian shadow fleet’s overall capacity, reducing oil revenues by 27 per cent compared to October 2024.
“The UK will not stand by while malign activity increases on the high seas. Alongside our allies, we’re stepping up our response to shadow vessels and will continue to do so.”
He said Iran continues to pose an espionage threat, hits the UK with cyber attacks and since 2022, the Iranian regime has plotted at least 15 assassination or kidnap attempts on British soil. “By assisting our US allies in taking this ship off the seas, we’re protecting the British people and our nation,” he added. “This is a stark reminder that our world is changing, and it’s more dangerous. The shadow fleet itself is vital to Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
American and British surveillance aircraft could be seen flying over the path of the Marinera in recent days, as it made its way northwards through the Atlantic. Among the latest were US special operations aircraft, which landed at a Scottish airport, Wick John O’Groats, before flying further north towards Iceland on Wednesday, according to flight tracking websites.
Ahead of the Marinera’s seizure, Kremlin adviser and former Russian deputy foreign minister Andrei Fedorov 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 also told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme 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”. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian naval force that supports the Royal Navy on various operations, and can be used to monitor vessels.