The US government has sold two sanctioned oil tankers seized in January 2026 to a ship recycling company.
Reuters reports this with reference to Lloydʼs List, a specialized media outlet for the maritime industry and shipping.
According to the publication, in July this year, Dubai-based ship recycling company Global Marketing Systems (GMS) acquired two tankers for an undisclosed sum. Among them are the Era tanker, previously called the Marinera and Bella 1, and the Lileo, previously called the Galileo and Veronica.
The Era tanker was seized by the US military in the North Atlantic Ocean on January 7 after a several-day pursuit. The US said it was carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
Another Russian-flagged ship, the Lileo, was seized by the US in the Caribbean that same month. It was under US sanctions for its ties to Russia.
According to GMS CEO Anil Sharma, during the sale of the tankers to the US government, “there were some difficulties — not least because we did not fully understand who their previous owner was”.
Both ships will now be scrapped at scrap metal recycling plants in India.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.