The U.S. Sold Two Seized Russian Oil Tankers For Scrap

• 11.08.2026, 12:05

The ships were purchased by a Dubai-based recycling company.

The U.S. has sold two Russia-linked oil tankers, the Era and the Lileo—which were seized by U.S. authorities in January—for scrap, according to Reuters reports, citing Lloyd’s List. The vessels were purchased for an undisclosed amount by the Dubai-based scrapping company Global Marketing Systems (GMS). They were sent to the Indian port of Alang for dismantling.

GMS clarified that the vessels were sold by the U.S. government pursuant to a court order. However, the transaction faced complications due to uncertainty regarding the previous owners, noted the company’s CEO Anil Sharma.

The tanker Era, which was originally named Bella 1 and flew the Panamanian flag, was detained in waters south of Iceland on January 7. Earlier, in late December, the U.S. Coast Guard attempted to intercept it in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela as part of a blockade aimed at halting oil exports from that country. The vessel’s attempt to evade detection by fleeing across the Atlantic—during which it was registered in Russia and renamed Marinera—was unsuccessful.

Washington claimed that it was carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. The tanker’s owner turned out to be a businessman from Crimea Ilya Bugay. Russian authorities accused the U.S. of an “illegal use of force” and a violation of the right to freedom of navigation, and the Russian Foreign Ministry had to personally ask U.S. President Donald Trump to release the crew.

The tanker Lileo, formerly known as Veronica, was also seized by the Americans in the Caribbean Sea in January. It had attempted to evade detention by changing its name to Galileo and flying the Russian flag. The vessel was subject to U.S. sanctions.

In total, as part of the naval blockade of Venezuela, U.S. authorities have seized ten oil tankers. As Reuters notes, sanctioned vessels often change their names and flags to avoid detection.