OREANDA-NEWS  American patrol planes, along with other planes from NATO countries, are monitoring the movement of the Russian-flagged tanker Marinera west of Ireland in the North Atlantic, The Independent reports.

According to British media reports, in recent days, two US Navy P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft, a Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet and an RC-135 Joint Rivet electronic reconnaissance aircraft of the British Air Force, as well as patrol aircraft from France and Ireland, have flown to the tanker's location from Mildenhall Airbase in the English county of Suffolk.

In this regard, The Times notes that the US military may use the UK as a springboard to capture a sanctioned tanker that has changed its flag to a Russian one and has been monitored since it left the coast of Venezuela and is heading north of British territorial waters.

Earlier, CBS News and CNN TV channels, citing informed sources, reported that the United States was going to forcibly seize the Marinera tanker (formerly Bella 1), which, according to the American authorities, was transporting oil from Iran and Venezuela.

The tanker was en route from Iran to Venezuela at the end of last year, where it was supposed to take on board a cargo of oil. The U.S. Coast Guard tried to detain the ship in the Caribbean, but the crew refused to let its staff on board. After that, the tanker changed course and headed for the Atlantic Ocean.

As The New York Times reported, citing sources, the US State Department received an official request from Russia to stop the pursuit of the US military for the tanker en route to Venezuela.