The ship undertook multiple efforts to hide its identity before its seizure on 7 January off the coast of Iceland.
On Wednesday, 7 January, the US military said it captured the vessel, previously named Bella 1, following a weeks-long pursuit across the Atlantic.
The Royal Air Force and Royal Navy provided support for the Marinera's seizure, according to the Ministry of Defence, including the provision of state-of-the-art refuelling ship RFA Tideforce.
Flight tracking data showed several US aircraft, including US Air Force special operations, arriving and leaving RAF bases and UK airports in the hours prior to the seizure.
Sky News analysis shows the tanker's journey from Iran over nearly two months and its apparent attempts to evade detection.
How the Marinera's voyage unfolded
Ship-tracking AIS location data from 3 September placed the tanker approximately 9km from the Strait of Hormuz, according to Global Fishing Watch.
However, the satellite image below, also taken on 3 September, shows Bella 1 more than 700km away.
It was stationed at Kharg Island, Iran's primary oil export facility, where analytics company Kpler says it loaded crude oil.
The discrepancy between the AIS data and the satellite imagery suggests the tanker was providing a fake signal to hide its location, a practice known as "spoofing".
The ship's signal was restored once it had left Iranian waters, and on 13 November it began its journey.
The AIS data later shows the tanker at Egypt's Suez South anchorage, where it remained between 23 and 26 November.
The Suez region is a major transport route for oil and gas. Oil can be offloaded at the Suez South anchorage, primarily through ship-to-ship transfers or pipeline systems.
Sky News cannot confirm whether the Bella 1 offloaded oil here.
We can be confident that the tanker was here on these dates because vessels in the area are required to transmit accurate locations.
On 3 December, the ship passed through another area with mandatory location reporting, the Strait of Gibraltar, before continuing its journey across the Atlantic.
It was last spotted by AIS systems on 17 December in the Caribbean, near Antigua and Barbuda.
Reports suggest that the US Coast Guard attempted to board the tanker on the 20 December, stating that the United States had a seizure warrant and that the vessel was not flying a valid national flag.
Under international law, vessels are required to be registered under a particular country, and this country is relied upon for protection.
The Bella 1 was flying the flag of Guyana, but the US said it had not actually registered with the country.
Sky News analysis has found that 40 sanctioned tankers are currently flying the Guyanese flag, despite not one of them being actually registered in Guyana.
One day after the US Coast Guard reportedly attempted to board the Bella 1, it was recorded making 39 distress calls between 12.26pm and 17.13pm.
These distress calls helped us locate the primary position of the tanker that day, which was just over 500km from the coast of Antigua and Barbuda, shown on the map below.
When the ship next appeared, on 1 January, it had travelled more than 3,000 km to the North Atlantic, changed its name to "Marinera" and adopted a Russian flag.
Sky News analysis found that at least 21 other sanctioned oil tankers have also changed their flags to Russia in the past month.
That's more than changed flags during the whole of 2024.
Five ships changed to Russian flags in just two days following the first seizure of a Venezuela-linked tanker by the US on 10 December.
Of the 22 tankers that have adopted Russian flags in the past month, at least 11 have previously visited both Venezuelan and Russian ports.
The seizure of the Marinera
By 7 January, the Marinera was passing between Iceland and Scotland, escorted by a Russian submarine according to reports in the Wall Street Journal.
Shipping analytics company Windward said the ship was likely heading for the Russian arctic port of Murmansk.
At around 11.26am, the Marinera made a sudden southbound turn. It was later seen at 1.18pm, heading east towards Scotland, according to data shared by TankerTrackers.
At 1.43pm, the US European Command announced it had seized the vessel for violations of US sanctions.
Speaking to Sky News, Mark Cancian, a senior advisor on defence and security at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that the helicopters used to board the Marinera were short-ranged.
"Either they came from the US air base on Keflavik, in which case the Icelandic government had to agree, or from a sea platform like the Special Ops mothership," he said.
Following the seizure, Russia's transport ministry issued a statement saying that the act had violated maritime law.
"In accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies in waters on the high seas, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states," the statement read.
The transport ministry also confirmed that Russia had granted the tanker a temporary permit to fly its flag.
The US also announced that it had seized another tanker, M/T Sophia, shortly after announcing the capture of Marinera. US Southern Command stated that the vessel had been "conducting illicit activities" in the Caribbean Sea.
The United States has now seized at least four sanctioned tankers linked to Venezuela, following the capture of vessels Skipper and Centuries in December last year.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
The former England forward and manager, 74, was recently admitted to hospital due to "ongoing abdominal symptoms", a statement said.
"These investigations have revealed a diagnosis of cancer, for which Kevin will undergo treatment," it added.
"Kevin is grateful to the medical team for their intervention and ongoing care.
"During this difficult time, the family are requesting privacy, and will be making no further comment."
Newcastle United wished Keegan "a full and speedy recovery" and said: "King Kev. We're with you every step of the way."
Liverpool FC also posted on X saying: "The thoughts and support of everyone at Liverpool FC and Forever Reds are with Kevin Keegan after he was diagnosed with cancer."
Keegan is closely associated with the Premier League teams Liverpool and Newcastle, the latter he both played for and managed, twice, and is affectionately known as "King Kev" for his footballing exploits.
Keegan won three First Division titles while a player at Liverpool as well as an FA Cup, two Charity Shields, two UEFA Cups and the European Cup.
He also had stints at Southampton, Scunthorpe and for Hamburger SV in Germany.
He won 63 England caps, scoring 21 goals, playing at the 1982 World Cup and was also later captain of the national team.
Keegan was twice named European Footballer of the Year while at Hamburg and returned to England to play for Southampton and Newcastle before retiring as a player in 1984.
He became England manager in 1999, having initially taken on the job following Glenn Hoddle's departure.
Having overseen a disappointing Euro 2000 campaign, Keegan resigned on the back of defeat by Germany at Wembley Stadium, the last match at the national stadium before it was rebuilt.
His last managerial job was his fairytale return to Newcastle United in 2008 but he quickly fell out with then owner Mike Ashley and eventually won a constructive dismissal lawsuit against the club.
Newcastle United went on to be relegated that season.
It follows Aberdeenshire Council declaring a major incident on Tuesday after the Met Office issued an amber weather warning for heavy snow covering much of Aberdeenshire and northeast Scotland.
While temperatures were expected to be slightly warmer on Wednesday, more sleet and snow were expected across northern Scotland, and the Met Office said thicker cloud with rain was expected to arrive across Northern Ireland, southwest Wales and southwest England later in the day.
Thursday was then expected to see a cloudy and cold start before Storm Goretti, named by French meteorological service, Meteo France, comes in from the South West.
Follow live: Weather and Storm Goretti updates
Sky News meteorologist Dr Christopher England said the "exact storm track is a little uncertain" but the "most likely scenario is heavy rain spreading from the southwest on Thursday turning to snow from around Wales across to East Anglia".
He said "significant falls" were likely, along with "severe gales around southern coasts".
The weather warning came as the UK was dealing with the impact of the cold.
In Chilmington, Ashford, a bus carrying schoolchildren crashed in Kent after slipping on black ice. There were no reported injuries.
Later, in Berkshire, a school coach collided with a bus in Reading due to "very icy" road conditions. Nine children, the driver of the coach and eight adults from the bus suffered minor injuries, according to the South Central Ambulance.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has extended its amber cold health alert across England until midday on Sunday.
Many places in Aberdeenshire saw up to a foot (30cm) of snow, with conditions causing difficulty for health services.
The location which saw the most was Tomintoul in Moray, which the Met Office recorded as seeing a depth of 46cm (18ins) at 9am on Wednesday.
Aberdeenshire Council said that it expects a "prolonged period of significant impacts" over the weather.
Check the latest weather forecast where you are
New weather warnings issued by Met Office
The Met Office has issued two yellow warnings snow and ice for the rest of Wednesday.
Thursday sees eight yellow warnings and two amber warnings.
There is a yellow warning for snow and ice in place until midday on Thursday in Scotland, a warning for ice in place across Northern Ireland until 10am on Thursday, and an amber warning for wind in Cornwall until 11pm on Thursday.
Most of the other warnings continue from Thursday into Friday.
There is a yellow warning for snow across the Midlands, most of Wales, part of northern England and parts of the South West until midday on Friday. In parts of this area, the warning is upgraded to amber until 9am on Friday.
There are yellow warnings for rain in place in West Wales until 10am on Friday and East Anglia until 9pm on Friday.
There is a warning for wind across the South West until 6am on Friday, with Dartmoor and Exmoor under a snow warning until 9am on the same day.
The Met Office warned that in where rain associated with Storm Goretti turns to snow, which is likely to be "initially on hills and then to lower levels overnight... accumulations of 10-15 cm are likely fairly widely, with the potential for 20-30 cm in some locations, mainly on hills above 200m elevation, more especially in Wales and/or the Peak District".
Hundreds of schools were shut in Shetland, Orkney, and Aberdeenshire.
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National Rail said heavy snow was causing disruption to services across northern Scotland and because of Storm Goretti, anyone travelling anywhere in England, Scotland or Wales before Friday was strongly advised to check their full journey before they travel.
Meanwhile, ice climbing instructor Mick Ellerton was able to scale a waterfall in Gordale Scar, near Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, which had frozen over completely.
And animals at the Highland Kincraig Wildlife Park, including polar bears and snow leopards, were able to enjoy conditions their breeds are more accustomed to as the heavy snow fell in the region.
Tensions have been high in the city in recent days, due to the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to the streets.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin claimed the 37-year-old woman was shot when she sought to "weaponise" her vehicle and allegedly attempted to run over an officer in her car.
However, in a press conference, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called these claims "bullshit" and criticised ICE for its operations, telling officers to "get the f*** out" of the US city.
"They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defence. Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly, that is bullshit," he said.
ICE is the federal US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency responsible for homeland security investigations and removal operations against people the US decides are in the country illegally.
The FBI has launched an investigation into the shooting, Minneapolis officials said.
Video of the shooting shared on social media by witnesses shows officers approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, and demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle.
The vehicle moves forward and a different ICE officer standing near the vehicle, on the driver's side, pulls his gun and fires two shots into the SUV at close range, jumping back as the car moves toward him.
The SUV then hit two parked cars before crashing to a stop.
Writing on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said the woman driving the car was "very disorderly, obstructing and resisting" and she then "violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer who seems to have shot her in self defense."
He said the ICE officer is "now recovering in hospital" and blamed the incident on the 'Radical Left' for 'threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers".
The DHS earlier said it had launched what it called the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out by the agency in Minnesota, with 2,000 federal agents and officers expected in the Minneapolis area for a crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
Ms McLaughlin said: "Today, ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponised her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them-an act of domestic terrorism.
"An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots.
"He used his training and saved his own life and that of his fellow officers.
"The alleged perpetrator was hit and is deceased."
A large group of protesters gathered at the scene of the shooting, where they expressed anger at law enforcement officers.
Chief of the Minneapolis Police Department Brian O'Hara did not indicate the woman had been attempting to harm anyone, confirming that she had been using her vehicle to block the roadway on Portland Avenue.
He said the woman had been shot in the head, and there was no indication she was the target of "any law enforcement investigation or activity."
"This woman was in her vehicle and was blocking the roadway on Portland Avenue," he said.
"At some point a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot and the vehicle began to drive off," the chief said.
"At least two shots were fired. The vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway."
Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem branded the incident as an "act of domestic terrorism".
She alleged the woman had "attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle".
"An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him," she said.Mr Frey criticised ICE and accused law enforcement of pushing a "garbage narrative" about the shooting.
"They are not here to cause safety in this city. What they are doing is not to provide safety in America," he said.
"What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust... They're ripping families apart. They're sowing chaos on our streets and in this case quite literally killing people."
Minnesota governor Tim Walz, who this week announced he would not be seeking reelection to a third term, wrote on X: "I've seen the video. Don't believe this propaganda machine. The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice."
The shooting occurred in a residential neighbourhood south of downtown Minneapolis, just a mile (1.6km) from where George Floyd was killed.
Kamran Ahmed, 28, is among four prisoners who are protesting the duration of their pre-trial detention, which has long passed the standard six-month custody time limit set out in UK law.
Kamran, who was being held at HMP Pentonville, north London, was taken to hospital for a heart complication on Tuesday, his sister Shahmina Alam told Sky News.
Birmingham-based neurologist Dr David Nicholl, who has studied prison hunger strikes for two decades, says the Palestine Action prisoners could be at risk of death.
"When someone has been refusing food, for 60-plus days, they are really at very serious risk of death, and indeed permanent harm," he told Sky News, speaking before Kamran was taken to hospital.
Dr Nicholl explained that even without death, months-long hunger strikes can leave lasting health implications including neurological and cognitive disorders, dementia, vertigo, sight loss and extreme weakness.
"The biggest risk immediately is what's called refeeding syndrome," he said.
"If you picture yourself having not eaten for a number of days, you need to gradually - very gradually - increase your calorie intake.
"Because your body's not used to suddenly eating, there's a risk of getting very sick and actually people have died having stopped the hunger strike, but having developed refeeding syndrome."
Also on hunger strike are Heba Muraisi, on day 65, Lewie Chiaramello (who is type 1 diabetic and has been fasting every other day) on day 60.
Teuta Hoxha had been on hunger strike but, according to the lawyers representing the hunger strikers, she has "paused her protest and has been taken to hospital following a rapid deterioration of her condition".
They all deny charges related to alleged break-ins or criminal damage, carried out in the name of Palestine Action, before the group was banned under terrorism legislation.
By the time they are tried, all four will have spent more than a year in custody.
Among their demands is that Palestine Action be de-proscribed and the UK ends support for companies supplying weapons to Israel.
They are also demanding immediate bail or transfers to prisons closer to home so family members can visit.
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Prisons minister Lord Timpson said: "While very concerning, hunger strikes are not a new issue for our prisons. Over the last five years, we've averaged over 200 a year and we have longstanding procedures in place to ensure prisoner safety.
"Prison healthcare teams provide NHS care and continuously monitor the situation. HM Prison and Probation Service are clear that claims that hospital care is being refused are entirely misleading - they will always be taken when needed and a number of these prisoners have already been treated in hospital.
"These prisoners are charged with serious offences including aggravated burglary and criminal damage. Remand decisions are for independent judges, and lawyers can make representations to the court on behalf of their clients.
"Ministers will not meet with them - we have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and the independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system. It would be entirely unconstitutional and inappropriate for ministers to intervene in ongoing legal cases."