US officials say that American forces plan to seize the Russian-flagged ship, which is accused of breaking sanctions.

Russia formally asked the United States to halt pursuit of Venezuelan oil tanker Marinera after the vessel escaped U.S. Coast Guard interception in the Caribbean.

About a dozen oil tankers loaded with Venezuelan crude and fuel have left the country's waters since the start of the year in apparent defiance of the U.S. government's blockade on exports, according to documents seen by Reuters and industry sources including monitoring service TankerTrackers.