Cargo aircraft carrying helicopters and personnel from the U.S. Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), known as the Night Stalkers, landed at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Reports indicate deployments of MH-60M Black Hawk and MH-47G Chinook helicopters capable of fast-roping commandos onto large vessels, alongside CV-22 Osprey tiltrotors from RAF Mildenhall and surveillance support from P-8 Poseidon aircraft.
The buildup signals staging for a high-risk boarding operation against the tanker, currently in the North Atlantic approximately 500 miles west of Ireland or near Scotland and Iceland, depending on tracking data. U.S. officials prefer seizing the vessel rather than sinking it, similar to a December operation involving Marines and special forces on another sanctioned tanker.
The Marinera, part of a "shadow fleet" used to bypass international sanctions, is alleged to have links to Iran and to facilitate oil trading for regimes in Venezuela, Russia, and Iran. The ship evaded U.S. forces in the Caribbean after Trump's December announcement of a "total and complete blockade" on sanctioned Venezuelan oil exports. During pursuit, the crew painted a Russian flag on the hull and re-registered the vessel in Russia under its new name, complicating legalities.
Russia filed a diplomatic request in late December urging the U.S. to halt pursuit, but American forces continue monitoring. The tanker historically transported Venezuelan and Iranian crude, sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2024 for shadow fleet activities.
The operation follows the January 3 capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and intensifies enforcement of the blockade, described by Secretary of State Marco Rubio as one of the largest quarantines in modern history. Over a dozen tankers reportedly fled Venezuelan ports using deceptive tactics like signal spoofing and flag changes since the blockade.
Allied surveillance has involved UK, French, and Irish aircraft tracking the vessel. Defence sources indicate the Fairford deployments prepare for hostile boarding amid winter North Atlantic conditions.
The chase highlights U.S. efforts to disrupt revenue streams for sanctioned entities, amid broader pressure on Venezuela's interim government under Delcy Rodríguez. Analysts note potential diplomatic fallout if the seizure proceeds against a nominally Russian-flagged ship.
This developing maritime standoff underscores escalating enforcement of sanctions in international waters, testing norms around shadow fleets and high-seas interdictions.
