The oil tanker fleeing American forces in the Atlantic Ocean has been formally renamed and added to an official Russian database of vessels registered in that country, potentially complicating US efforts to board the runaway ship.
According to the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, the vessel, previously known as the Bella 1, is now registered as the Marinera. The database lists the vessel as flying the Russian flag, with a home port of Sochi.
Under international law, ships flying a country’s flag are under that nation’s protection. But the vessel’s efforts to stay out of US jurisdiction might still be a long shot, because American officials said it was not flying a valid national flag when it was initially approached by the Coast Guard more than a week ago.
The slow-moving tanker has been evading the Coast Guard after being stopped on its way to pick up oil at a Venezuelan port. It may now be trying to invoke the aid of Russia, a longtime ally of Venezuela’s. Crew members recently painted a crude Russian flag on the side of the vessel.
The register is a state-controlled enterprise acting as an official arm of the Kremlin’s maritime authority.
The Russian government’s stance on the ship is not clear. The Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. The White House, the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security also did not respond to requests.
President Donald Trump has sought to impose a partial blockade on Venezuela’s oil industry as he seeks to pressure President Nicolás Maduro. Venezuela’s economy depends on selling its oil abroad, mainly to China. The United States has taken possession of two other tankers involved in Venezuela’s oil trade in December. The Bella 1 would have been the third.
American officials said the Bella 1 was not flying a valid flag when it was approached by the Coast Guard in the Caribbean Sea late on Dec. 20, making it a stateless vessel susceptible to boarding under international law. The tanker, which was not carrying oil, refused to be boarded and has been on the lam ever since.
David Tannenbaum, a former sanctions compliance officer at the US Treasury Department, said it was “unclear” whether Russia’s providing “overnight flag registration” to the ship would prove valid.
The move, he said, was part of a broader pattern of Russia’s operating as a sanctuary of last resort for the so-called dark fleet. Those are vessels that move oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela in violation of sanctions from the United States and other countries.
“We continue to move into unproven territory,” Tannenbaum said.
The Bella 1 had previously been registered in Panama, Palau, Liberia and the Marshall Islands, according to the International Maritime Organization, which regulates international shipping.
US forces have a seizure warrant for the ship that was issued before the boarding attempt. The court order was authorized because of the vessel’s history transporting Iranian oil, which US authorities say is sold to finance terrorism.
American officials have suggested that they still intend to seize the ship. But boarding a moving vessel with a potentially hostile crew could prove dangerous, and the Coast Guard has so far only tracked the Bella 1.
