India, Jan. 7 -- The US on Wednesday confirmed that it has seized two sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean. One of them, merchant vessel Bella 1, was Russian-flagged and had changed its name to the Marinera after fleeing the American blockade of Venezuela last month. The Southern Command further confirmed that M Sophia, which was Panama-flagged, is under sanctions. It was described as a 'stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker'.

Then, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a social media post that both ships were 'either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it'.

The UK stated that it provided support to the US in its seizure of Bella 1. "UK Armed Forces provided pre-plan...