Panama says it cancelled flag of US-seized oil tanker a year ago

PANAMA CITY – Panama’s maritime authority on Jan 8 said it had cancelled in January 2025 the flag of the M Sophia, a Venezuela-linked oil tanker seized by the US military this week.

The US military’s Southern Command on Jan 7 said it had intercepted the M Sophia before dawn, and described it as a “stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker”. Panamanian authorities cancelled the supertanker’s flag on Jan 23, 2025, the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) said in a statement.

The maritime authority also said the Bella-1, a Russian-flagged tanker the US seized the same day near Iceland after a two-week pursuit, was once listed on the country’s registry but this stopped being the case as of Oct 7, 2024.

A ship’s flag determines who has authority over it. The US says that when a flag is cancelled it can become stateless, meaning it lacks protections under international law and may be boarded or even seized.

Panama’s maritime authority did not immediately respond to a request for more information on why the ships were no longer flagged as Panamanian.

The Bella-1 appeared to be the first time in recent memory that the US military has seized a Russian-flagged vessel.

The Jan 7 tanker seizures were third and fourth after the United States intercepted two vessels in December 2025, and then captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a pre-dawn raid on the capital Caracas, and demanded authorities there open oil to US companies or risk more military intervention.

Top Venezuelan officials have accused the US of trying to steal the country’s vast oil reserves, estimated to be the largest in the world, but US President Trump said earlier this week he had reached a deal with Maduro’s successor on crude exports. REUTERS