A ship under active pursuit by the United States military as part of the Trump administration’s targeting of Venezuelan oil appears set to enter Irish-controlled waters in the coming days.
Irish authorities are monitoring the passage of the oil tanker, which satellite data suggests will take the northern route around Ireland on its way to a Russian North Sea port.
Ships taking such a route typically travel through Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) or along its upper boundary.
The US Coast Guard began pursuing the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) class ship two weeks ago as it sailed to Venezuela to take on a shipment of oil.
The Trump administration has put sanctions on the export of oil from the South American country and to date has seized two of its tankers.
The ship, which was known as the Bella 1, subsequently turned around and sailed into the Atlantic, with US military vessels in pursuit.
In recent days it has changed its name to Marinera and its crew has painted a Russian flag on its side in an apparent effort to deter boarding by US forces.
The vessel has also been added to Russia’s official shipping registry, having previously flown the flag of Guyana.
Ships are entitled to the protection of the country they are registered in. The acceptance of the ship on to the Russian registry indicates Moscow has accepted this position.
Oil tanker headed towards Irish-controlled waters on Friday January 2nd, 2026
According to the New York Times, Russia has formally requested the US to stop pursuing the vessel.
However, US authorities claim the tanker is falsely registered and is a “shadow vessel”, one of hundreds of ships that use fake or misleading registrations to avoid sanctions. A US court has issued a seizure order for the ship.
Under the laws of the sea, it is open to countries to seize a vessel flying a false flag.
The ship’s automatic identification system had been switched off, rendering it invisible on open-source platforms. However, it was turned back on on Friday and was transmitting its location in the Atlantic.
However, satellite data provided by the analysis company Starboard Maritime Intelligence, showed the Marinera sailing at speed northeast across the Atlantic on Friday afternoon, meaning it could enter the Irish EEZ over the weekend or early next week if it maintains its course.
It may also change course and head to a port on the Baltic Sea. This would involve sailing along Ireland’s south coast and into the English Channel.
The ship’s passage presents a highly unusual situation for Irish authorities. The Defence Forces and Irish Coast Guard have been responding to a dramatic increase in shadow fleet vessels appearing in the Irish EEZ over the last year.
However, they have not yet been forced to deal with an unflagged oil tanker being actively pursued by another country through Irish waters while claiming the protection of a third.
The US Coast Guard continues to track the Marinera. According to US media, it has deployed specialist boarding parties on pursuing ships. However, since the ship claimed Russian registration, there have been no attempts to block or seize the vessel.
Domestic security sources said Irish authorities are monitoring the vessel’s passage via satellite and have been in communication with their US counterparts.
There has been no request from the US for Ireland to take any action.
“Based on the ship’s position and the behaviour of other ships, a route around the top of Ireland is the mostly likely scenario,” said an Irish security source. “Transiting through [the Irish EEZ] is the safest and cheapest option. On the other hand, the ship has been displaying some highly unusual behaviour so it’s difficult to be certain what it’s intentions are.”
If the ageing tanker, which is not carrying oil, continues its course, the Defence Forces will probably deploy a maritime patrol aircraft to monitor its passage, sources said.