A sanctioned Russian vessel was spotted sailing through the English Channel only a day after a Russian-flagged tanker was seized by US forces in Icelandic waters.

The ship was sanctioned by the US when it was named Tia in August 2024, but it is now sailing under a false name.

The tanker was renamed as Tavian, before switching again to the name Arcusat and reflagging to Cameroon. 

It is now around 20 miles north of Guernsey, making its way towards Finland, according to reports.  

On December 30, it departed STAR Rafineri, near Izmir, Turkey.

It comes a day after the US Coast Guard seized a Moscow-bound tanker linked to Venezuelan oil in a dramatic commando-style raid.

Footage shows a USCGC Munro daringly chasing down the rogue Marinera vessel, previously called Bella 1, in an operation that saw Donald Trump‘s latest power play against Vladimir Putin.

RAF aircraft were involved in the operation to seize the tanker and UK airbases were used as launchpads for US military aircraft. 

Alexander Kots, a veteran pro-government correspondent for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, wrote on Telegram that ‘nuclear war could be just one step away’ following reports of the US operation.

Alexei Zhuravlev, the first deputy head of the State Duma’s Defense Committee, echoed the sentiment, saying Russian ‘military doctrine even envisages the use of nuclear weapons in response to such an attack‘. 

Moscow‘s transport ministry confirmed that all contact with the ship had been lost and condemned its seizure as a ‘violation of international law’.

Another Venezuela-linked tanker, Sophia, was seized by the US in the Caribbean on Wednesday, after both vessels were accused of evading sanctions. 

The ship was sanctioned by the US when it was named Tia in August 2024, but it is now sailing under a false name. 

The Ministry of Defence insisted Britain’s assistance in seizing Marinera was ‘in full compliance with international law’.

The UK government sought to distance itself from the vessel’s Venezuela link, insisting its involvement was part of a broader crackdown on the Kremlin’s shadow fleet.

Defence Secretary John Healey said: ‘Today our UK Armed Forces showed skill and professionalism in support of a successful US interception of the vessel Bella 1 while on its way to Russia. 

‘This action formed part of global efforts to crack down on sanctions busting.

‘This ship, with a nefarious history, is part of a Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion which is fuelling terrorism, conflict, and misery from the Middle East to Ukraine.

‘The UK will continue to step up our action against shadow fleet activity to protect our national security, our economy, and global stability – making Britain secure at home and strong abroad.’

The Chinese foreign ministry condemned the US after it seized the two sanctioned oil tankers with links to Venezuela, saying the operations seriously violate international law.

‘China has always opposed illegal unilateral sanctions without the basis of international law and without the authorisation of the United Nations Security Council,’ spokesperson Mao Ning said.

Russia’s foreign ministry criticised the UK’s ‘complicity’ in the Marinera’s capture and said the White House has set a ‘dangerous and irresponsible example’.

The ministry added: ‘The incident involving the Marinera can only result in a further escalation of military and political tensions in the Euro-Atlantic region, as well as a visible lowering of the “threshold for the use of force” against civilian shipping.’

A Poseidon MRA1, an RAF maritime patrol aircraft, and a naval supply ship, RFA Tideforce, were among the British military assets that took part in the seizure.

An RAF Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft was also deployed on Tuesday to gather information on the vessel.

Responding to the operation, Putin ally Zhuravlev said: ‘We need to provide a military response: attack with torpedoes or sink a couple of American boats.

‘The seizure of a civilian vessel by the armed US Navy is nothing short of piracy.’

Dramatic photos in Russian media purportedly showed a helicopter, understood to be an American MH-6 Little Bird, swooping close to the vessel before it was apprehended.

US forces had pursued it over several weeks after it apparently evaded what Trump described as the ‘total naval blockade’ of Venezuela put in place in December.

Last month, the US Coast Guard attempted to board the ship in the Caribbean, armed with a warrant to seize the ship over alleged breaches of US sanctions and claims it had shipped Iranian oil.

However, the tanker then abruptly changed course, renamed itself Marinera and was added to an official Russian ship database

At one point while being pursued, the crew of the vessel painted a Russian flag on its hull, claiming it was sailing under Russian protection, and Moscow made a formal diplomatic request that the US stop its chase.

Since 2020, the ship has had six names sailed under five country flags.

It is subject to anti-Iranian sanctions by Trump as part of efforts to prevent the regime in Tehran from profitting from oil.

The tanker was believed to be involved in illegal activity linked to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia based in Lebanon, acording to the MoD.

The sanctioned tanker was pursued ‘across the high seas and through treacherous storms’ before it was captured, the US Homeland Security Secretary said.

Kristi Noem said the seizure of this ‘ghost fleet’ vessel, and a separate tanker near the Caribbean, ‘put the world’s criminals on notice’.

The tankers, the Marinera and the Sophia – were ‘either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it’.

‘You can run, but you can’t hide. We will never relent in our mission to protect the American people and disrupt the funding of narco-terrorism wherever we find it, period,’ she said.

‘This is our country’s greatest fighting force at their best. This is America first at sea.’

‘One of these tankers, Motor Tanker Bella I, has been trying to evade the Coast Guard for weeks, even changing its flag and painting a new name on the hull while being pursued, in a desperate and failed attempt to escape justice,’ Noem said.

Trump’s press secretary was asked whether the operation targetting the Russian-flagged vessel risked a deeper confrontation with Putin.

Speaking at the White House, Karoline Leavitt said the president would always enforce the policy that is best for the American people.

She added: ‘And with respect to these ship seizures, that means enforcing the embargo against all “dark fleet” vessels that are illegally transporting oil and only legitimate commerce. That’s the policy of this administration, and he’s not afraid to implement it.’

The Marinera was seized as it travelled towards waters between Iceland and Scotland, apparently heading for the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk.

Following the operation, the US president criticised America’s Nato partners, despite the British support in the seizure.

‘We will always be there for Nato, even if they won’t be there for us,’ he wrote on his Truth Social site. ‘The only nation that China and Russia fear and respect is the DJT [Donald J Trump] REBUILT USA. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!’

Moscow had previously dispatched navy assets, including a submarine, to protect the sanctioned oil tanker as it crossed the Atlantic.

Following the operation, a humiliated Kremlin slammed the US.

‘In accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies in waters on the high seas, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered under the jurisdiction of other states,’ Russia’s transport ministry said in a statement.

The vessel had received ‘temporary permission’ to sail under the Russian flag on December 24, the ministry said, adding that ‘contact with the ship was lost’ after US naval forces boarded it ‘in the open sea, beyond the territorial waters of any state’. 

Separately, the US Coast Guard has also intercepted another Venezuela-linked tanker in ‍Latin American waters as America continues enforcing a maritime ‘blockade’ of sanctioned vessels from Venezuela. 

Sources told Reuters that the vessel was Panama-flagged supertanker M/T Sophia, which is under sanctions.

The ship, a ‘stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker’, was seized by the American military in a pre-dawn operation.

‘The interdicted vessel, M/T Sophia, was operating in international waters and conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea,’ the US military said in a statement.

‘The US Coast Guard is escorting M/T Sophia to the US for final disposition.’

The Marinera and the Sophia are two examples of more than 1,000 vessels considered to be part of the ‘shadow fleet’ or ‘dark fleet’: ships that transport oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela in violation of sanctions, using deceptive tactics to avoid detection.

In the same week that the Bella 1 changed its name and adopted a Russian flag, a second ship operating in Venezuela, the Hyperion, made a similar change.

In recent days, at least three additional oil vessels that operated in Venezuelan waters have similarly switched to Russian flags, extending a pattern of reflagging among ships under US sanctions.

The capturing of the Marinera follows an operation last month when the US Coast Guard led a dramatic raid on The Skipper, a tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

Ten days later, another vessel named the Centuries carrying Venezuelan oil was halted and boarded, but not seized. 

Sir Keir Starmer spoke to the US president on Wednesday evening following the operation.

‘They discussed the joint operation to intercept the Bella 1 as part of shared efforts to crack down on sanctions busting, recent progress on Ukraine and the US operation in Venezuela,’ said Number 10. ‘The PM also set out his position on Greenland.’

The operation came a few days after Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, was captured in a lightning US miilitary raid on his fortified residence in Caracas.

The dictator was arrested and accused of overseeing a cocaine-trafficking network with international drug cartels.

He faces four criminal counts: narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices.

‘I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,’ Maduro, 63, said on Monday through an interpreter, before being cut off by US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court. 

Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, also pleaded not guilty. The next court date was set for March 17.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.