Exclusive: US seizes Venezuela-linked, Russian-flagged oil tanker after weeks-long pursuit

The U.S. seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker that was being shadowed by a Russian submarine on Wednesday, after pursuing it for more than two weeks across the Atlantic as part of Washington's efforts to block Venezuelan oil exports, U.S. officials said.

It appeared to be the first time in recent memory that the U.S. military has seized a Russian-flagged vessel.

The Marinera, originally known as the Bella-1, had previously slipped through a U.S. maritime blockade of sanctioned tankers in the Caribbean and rebuffed U.S. Coast Guard efforts to board it. Wednesday's seizure effort, in the Atlantic near Iceland, was first reported by Reuters...