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 other countries. The Coast Guard attempted to board the ship, which never made it to port in Venezuela and is empty, on Dec. 20. However, the crew refused to allow it. As we noted yesterday, CBS News reported that the U.S. is drawing up plans to interdict the boat. You can catch up to our most recent coverage of the pursuit for this ship in our story here.
The video posted by RT shows the cutter following the Marinera on a roughly parallel course in choppy seas in the North Atlantic. It is unclear from the video which cutter is following the Marinera. The oil tanker is reportedly located between Iceland and Scotland.
The 418-foot-long Legend class cutters often perform interdictions and can accommodate two MH-65 Dolphin helicopters, or one MH-65 or MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and two vertically launched unmanned aerial vehicles. A Coast Guard official told us that the service is phasing out its Insitu ScanEagle drones in favor of Shield AI V-BAT drones.
It is unclear from the video if any aircraft are embarked.
The cutters are armed with a Mk. 110 57 mm deck gun; a Phalanx 20 mm close-in weapon system (CWIS), a Mk. 53 decoy launching system (NULKA); and four M2 .50-caliber machine guns.
Regardless of how many aviation assets it carries or how it is armed, a lone cutter in the high seas has not proven adequate to board the Marinera. Concerns about the effort have been exacerbated by Venezuelan officials having discussed “the placement of armed military personnel on tankers — disguising them as civilians for defense purposes — as well as portable Soviet-era air defense systems,” CBS reported. That’s likely why the U.S. is planning a much larger and far more capable and well defended force to do so.
In December, when the U.S. boarded the M/T Skipper, another sanctioned Russian oil tanker, law enforcement and military personnel were fast-roped from a Navy MH-65 Seahawk embarked aboard the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, not too far from Venezuela. You can see that boarding in the following video.
As word has spread of a possible U.S. boarding, Russian milbloggers say the Marinera may be headed for the Baltic Sea, “where it will be met and escorted by the Russian fleet, unless the Americans or British manage to board the Marinera beforehand.”
Meanwhile, as the Legend class cutter follows the Marinera on the water, the U.S. and allies continue their aerial surveillance efforts.
According to flight tracking data, U.K. Typhoon fighters, accompanied by KC-2 aerial refueling tankers, flew over the North Atlantic in the area where the tanker was last seen.
The Typhoons join U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol jets, and Irish Air Corps C-295W maritime search aircraft in tracking the Marinera.
Beyond the ongoing flights, the U.S. is continuing to add aviation assets to the U.K. that could take part in any effort to track and board the Marinera. On Tuesday, a U.S. Air Force U-2 Dragon Lady high altitude surveillance jet was deployed to RAF Fairford, according to online flight tracking data. It isn’t clear if this high-flying asset is there for a potential raiding operation or other taskings. U-2s fly out of RAF Fairford regularly.
The U-2 is the latest U.S. aircraft to be deployed to the U.K. As we noted yesterday, C-17 Globemaster III cargo jets recently arrived at RAF Fairford from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, home of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) Night Stalkers. Local spotters say the cargo jets delivered Night Stalkers’ highly modified MH-47 Chinooks and MH-60M Black Hawks; however, no visual evidence has emerged to confirm that. Further, one of the U.S. Air Force’s shadowy CASA CN-235 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance planes was also deployed to RAF Fairford, in addition to at least two AC-130J Ghostrider gunships that just arrived at RAF Mildenhall over the weekend.
A future boarding effort is not the only reason these aircraft may have been deployed to England, which you can read about in our previous report. However, those possibilities are looking less probable as the pursuit of the Marinera continues.
Meanwhile, Moscow is watching all this with a wary eye.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was “monitoring with concern the anomalous situation surrounding the Russian oil tanker Marinera,” NBC News reported.
“For several days now, Marinera has been followed by a U.S. Coast Guard ship, despite the fact that the vessel is located approximately 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) from the U.S. coastline,” the statement added.
“At present, the vessel is navigating international waters of the North Atlantic under the state flag of the Russian Federation and in full compliance with international maritime law,” the Foreign Ministry continued. “At the same time, for reasons that remain unclear to us, the Russian vessel is receiving heightened attention from U.S. and NATO military forces that is clearly disproportionate to its peaceful status. We expect that Western countries, which consistently declare their commitment to freedom of navigation on the high seas, will begin by adhering to this principle in their own actions.”
Despite any concerns, Russia has yet to deploy ships or aircraft to support the Marinera. Given its location, it will be days before the ship could reach the Baltic. There, a more robust Russian presence not too far from its shores could complicate any interdiction efforts.
For the moment, the oil tanker is making its way toward Russia unimpeded and it remains unknown if President Donald Trump will give the order to board it. Whether that happens is something we will be following closely.
Update: 8:39 PM Eastern –
The Russians have sent a submarine and other naval assets to escort the Marinera, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday night.
Update: 1/7/2026
U.S. forces have now boarded and secured the Marinera. You can find our continuing courage here.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com