Somewhere in the North West Atlantic, north of Ireland, USA forces are reported to be attempting to apprehend an oil tanker running from the Carribean, in international waters.

The tanker is being shadowed by a Russian submarine.

I am bound to ask, WTF is going on ? Seems crazy to me . . . . .

The Wall Street Journal has an article about this tanker.

At the time the U.S. began pursuing the tanker, the Bella 1 was a stateless vessel flying a false flag and subject to a judicial seizure order, according to the White House. The U.S. had sanctioned the Bella 1 for allegedly carrying black-market Iranian oil on behalf of U.S.-designated terrorist organizations aligned with Tehran.

However, the ship’s new Russian registration now complicates the U.S. legal justification for boarding it, experts say. 

It time to play hardball with Russia.

Sounds like the plot to a Tom Clancy movie.

According to the BBC the ship (Marinera) has been seized by the US navy, without much resistance.

Moscow has said the ship was only "temporarily" flagged as Russian (whatever that means) and that Russian crew members should be repatriated asap.

BBC News

White House to hold briefing after US seizes Russian-flag...

The UK said it gave support to the operation, while the US confirmed it had also seized a second vessel linked to Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea.