The U.S. European Command confirmed the seizure of the Marinera, a Venezuela-linked oil tanker formerly known as Bella-1. It said the vessel was seized for violations of U.S. sanctions and pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro.

These maritime actions follow weekend events in Caracas, where US special forces extracted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, transporting them to New York to answer drug-related charges.

The seizure of the Marinera drew condemnation from China, the main customer for Venezuela’s sanctioned oil, and Russia, which had added the empty tanker to its Maritime Register of Shipping after the Coast Guard started pursuing it in December.

The listing could make it more challenging for U.S. forces to board the ship, which an arm of the Kremlin’s maritime authority says is now flying the Russian flag.

Experts mull likely changes to shipping should American control of the Venezuelan oil market take hold For ads that aren’t personalized, ad measurement, audience surveys, and service development we and our partners process personal data with legitimate interest as legal basis.