Maritime data recorded on January 8 showed two oil tankers named Aria and Tia moving in the southern waters of England. These two ships appeared just one day after the oil tanker Marinera, another vehicle also belonging to the Russian fleet, was captured by US forces in coordination with the UK right in the Atlantic Ocean.
Entering the area considered the "target" of the British and US navies is raising speculation about the possibility that the coalition will continue to strongly confiscate more vehicles accused of violating sanctions.
Earlier on the evening of January 7, British Defense Secretary John Healey gave an important speech to Parliament, affirming that the arrest of the Marinera ship was completely legal. Mr. Healey emphasized that the ship not only used a fake flag to hide its identity but was also a link in Moscow's "dark fleet".
According to London's view, this fleet specializes in illegal oil transportation to generate financial revenue to maintain the military operation in Ukraine, so preventing them is a top priority.
When asked by the media about the possibility of intervention in the two ships Aria and Tia moving near the British coast, the country's Ministry of Defense declined to comment on specific combat plans. However, representatives of this agency reaffirmed the firm view that the British government will prioritize activities to disrupt and weaken Russia's "underground" maritime transport capabilities.
In terms of background, both moving ships have complex records and are on the US Treasury Department's blacklist.
The first ship named Tia, currently using the registered name Tiavan, is en route from Turkey to a port in the Russian Gulf of Finland, expected to dock on January 13. This ship was once put on the US sanctions list in 2024 for participating in transporting crude oil from Venezuela. To evade control, it has continuously changed its name from Tia to Arcusat and is currently Tiavan.
Meanwhile, the second ship is Aria, currently flying the Barbados flag. Positioning data recorded that this ship was moving between the Plymouth and Jersey areas on the evening of January 8 towards the Ust-Luga commercial port in the East Baltic Sea. The US Treasury Department identified Aria as closely linked to Russia's largest shipping company, making it a potential target of coercive measures.
Maritime experts believe that the risk for these two ships is very high, especially when looking at the precedent from the Marinera ship incident. Before being controlled, the Marinera ship was closely monitored by US and British forces for more than two weeks from the Caribbean Sea.
Although the crew made efforts to change the identity by changing the name and registration flag right at sea, these camouflage measures did not fool the coalition monitoring force.
The incident sends a strong signal about the level of security tightening on key European routes today.
