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PARIS (AP) — France’s navy, working with intelligence provided by the United Kingdom, on Thursday intercepted an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea that traveled from Russia, in a mission targeting the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet, officials said. French maritime authorities for the Mediterranean said the ship, the Grinch, is suspected of operating with a false flag. The French navy is escorting the ship to anchorage for more checks, the statement said. The tanker departed from the city of Murmansk in northwestern Russia, it said.

he oil tanker Marinera, seized by the United States, had been chartered by a private trader under the flag of Guyana.It changed its flag to Russian while in the Atlantic, already being escorted by a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, Caliber.Az reports, citing REN TV.The U.S. Coast Guard began pursuing the tanker off the coast of Venezuela after failing to obtain confirmation from Guyanese authorities that the ship was sailing under their flag.U.S. officials demanded that the captain proceed to a U.S. port, but he refused and steered the vessel into the Atlantic. En route, the tanker requested temporary registration under...

The UK's Ministry of Defence confirmed that it had provided "enabling support" to the US during its operation to seize the tanker. US forces have boarded a Venezuela-linked sanctioned oil tanker in North Atlantic after pursuing it for weeks, the US military announced on Wednesday. "The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro," US European Command said in a post on X. Russia sent a submarine to escort the empty oil tanker the US military had been pursuing and attempting to seize for weeks,...

The crew of the runaway Russian-flagged oil tanker Marinera released the first video showing a U.S. Coast Guard Legend class cutter in close pursuit. The video was posted online Tuesday by the Russian RT news outlet as the military buildup in England continues, potentially for a future U.S. boarding of the vessel. Until recently known as the Bella-1 before it was re-registered and the crew painted a Russian flag on it, the Marinera is part of a so-called shadow fleet. These vessels are transporting oil for Russia, Iran and Venezuela in violation of sanctions imposed by the United States and...

NATO moved Friday to enhance its naval presence in the Baltic Sea as Estonia’s navy began patrolling an undersea cable supplying energy from Finland. The move follows the excision of a different cable from the power grid on Christmas Day in what Finnish authorities allege is a case of deliberate, targeted sabotage by Russia, as Breitbart News reported. A ship named as Eagle S is suspected of damaging the Estlink 2 cable and Finnish coast guard crew have boarded the oil tanker and steered it into Finnish waters. The E.U. said the Eagle S was part of “Russia’s shadow fleet”...

Chinese oil tankers are pressing ahead with Venezuela-linked voyages despite a U.S. blockade and an escalating campaign of tanker seizures. Two Chinese-flagged VLCCs are operating near Venezuelan waters, with the Thousand Sunny due to arrive in mid-January and the Xing Ye waiting off French Guiana, according to a new report by Lloyd's List. Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment. Why It Matters The movements come as China said it opposed U.S. oil seizures and naval pressure on Venezuela. President Donald Trump is tightening maritime enforcement to choke off oil revenues to Caracas, which has in...

Emergency workers in Trinidad and Tobago are racing to clean up a massive oil spill after a mystery vessel ran aground near the Caribbean island, casting a pall over Carnival tourism. The spill was "not under control" as of Sunday, said Prime Minister Keith Rowley, who added that the country is grappling with a national emergency. The mystery vessel capsized Wednesday in waters off the Caribbean island, having made no emergency calls, with no sign of crew, and no clear sign of ownership.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has begun evacuating the families of diplomats from Venezuela, a European intelligence official told AP on Monday, as the United States pursues its third sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean and President Donald Trump convenes senior national security officials at his Mar-a-Lago resort. The evacuations, which started Friday and include women and children, come as Russian officials assess the situation in Venezuela in what the intelligence source described as "very grim tones." The withdrawals signal heightened concerns about stability in the South American nation as the Trump administration escalates its four-month pressure campaign against President Nicolas Maduro's...

Estonian authorities detained and boarded a ship in the Baltic Sea that belongs to Russia’s shadow fleet, Prime Minister Kristen Michal said Friday. The vessel, which Michal said did not sail under any nation’s flag but was previously registered to Djibouti according to publicly available records, was detained near Tallinn Bay in an operation involving helicopters. “Early this morning, the Estonian Navy detained a sanctioned vessel with no flag state,” Michal said in a post on social media. “Our authorities are currently on board, inspecting its legal status and safety.” The ship was heading to the port of Ust-Luga, a...

The USNS Abraham Lincoln strike group, currently in the Middle East, is without any means of refueling after the oil tanker USNS Big Horn ran aground off the coast of Oman. The Big Horn is the only tanker in the entire Middle East, and the Navy is currently scrambling to come up with a replacement. Should I mention that our most important ally in the Middle East might be at war with Iran in a few hours? Initial Reports that the USNS Big Horn (T-AO-198), the only Replenishment Oiler with the U.S. Navy currently Deployed to the Middle East, has...

The Pentagon on Thursday blasted Houthi rebels for striking an oil tanker and creating an “environmental disaster” in the Red Sea after the merchant vessel was lit ablaze with a million barrels of crude oil on board. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters the Houthis striking the Greek-owned merchant vessel Sounion on Wednesday was threatening a “catastrophe” in Yemen’s backyard. “That is an environmental disaster that they are going to have to deal with,” she said, also slamming the group’s motives in the attack. “What exactly does this accomplish? They said they were launching these attacks to help...

The US has been fending off Iran-backed terrorists in the region for weeks Iranian forces have seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, two U.S. military officials confirmed to Fox News on Thursday. The seized vessel, previously known as the Suez Rajan, was once at the center of another dispute between the U.S. and Iran that ultimately saw the U.S. seize over 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil. Armed Iranian soldiers reportedly boarded the vessel Thursday morning. The U.S. and other Western navies have been combating attacks from Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen in the Red Sea...

A US destroyer intercepted a hijacked Israeli-managed oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden earlier today, freed the crew, and took the Houthi pirates into custody. My colleague Jeff Charles covered the piracy in this post, High Seas Drama: Another Israeli Tanker Seized by Unidentified Attackers Near Yemen.Shortly after dawn local time, the Central Park, a small Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker managed by an Israeli company registered in London, sent a distress call saying it was being boarded by armed men. The USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, was operating in the area. According to reports, the Mason directed...

The U.S. Navy said Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday amid wider tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program. The Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet identified the vessel as the Advantage Sweet. Satellite tracking data for the vessel from MarineTraffic.com showed it in the Gulf of Oman just north of Oman’s capital, Muscat, on Thursday afternoon. It had just come from Kuwait and listed its destination as Houston, Texas.

Roughly 1,800 U.S. service members, as well as several dozen fighter jets and other air defense implements, will be sent to Saudi Arabia to help protect the Kingdom amid heightened tensions with Iran, the Pentagon announced Friday. Officials said the U.S. is set to ship two F-15 squadrons, two Patriot missile batteries, one anti-missile defense system known as THADD and other planes. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said he informed Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman earlier Friday about the additional troops “to ensure and enhance the defense of Saudi Arabia.” "Saudi Arabia is a longstanding security partner in the...

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation is reporting another ship has been seized in the gulf. Correspondent Amochai Stein said on Twitter: “Iran has seized another oil vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Revolutionary Guard arrests a vessel and 11 crew on 'diesel smuggling charges'."

Jeremy Hunt today warned that Iran may be choosing a “dangerous path” of “illegal and destabilising” behaviour after it seized a British-flagged tanker in the Gulf. The cargo vessel Stena Impero had been sailing through the Strait of Hormuz en route to Saudi Arabia when it was surrounded by four vessels and a helicopter at 4pm yesterday in an escalation of tensions between London and Tehran.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump backed the United Kingdom after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the Islamic Republic is in “big trouble”. “Iran is showing their true colours,” President Trump told reporters outside the White House, adding: “Iran is in big trouble.”The President’s relationship with British government ministers and prominent opposition politicians, such as hard-left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and London mayor Sadiq Khan, has often been strained, as they have rushed to commentate negatively on his administration in hopes of winning the approval of left-liberal activists and media commentators.Nevertheless, the American leader’s attitude to his...

Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it has seized a British oil tanker that was passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC's website, sepahnews.com, says the tanker "Impero Stena" was seized Friday by IRGC forces for "non-compliance with international maritime laws and regulations" and has transferred the vessel to an Iranian port. The report did not elaborate what port it was transferred to.

Shortened title. Full title: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announces seizure of oil tanker accused of smuggling fuel in the Strait of Hormuz Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has seized a foreign tanker and 12 crew members accused of smuggling Iranian fuel, according to a report on Iran’s state television Thursday. The seizure is the latest in a series of attacks involving ships and tankers, mostly in the vicinity of the Persian Gulf, that have sent tensions soaring between the United States and Iran.