In a major international standoff on the high seas, U.S. military and Coast Guard units are closely tracking a sanctioned oil tanker that has fled into the North Atlantic, roughly hundreds of miles off the coast of Ireland, after escaping a boarding attempt in the Caribbean. The vessel — originally known as Bella 1 and now renamed Marinera under a Russian flag — was sanctioned by Washington for alleged involvement in illicit oil transport linked to Venezuelan and Iranian crude.
Despite diplomatic protests from Moscow and Russia’s dispatch of naval escorts — including surface ships and possibly a submarine — to protect the tanker, U.S. forces are maintaining surveillance and planning potential interception as it sails northeast toward European waters.
The operation highlights a growing geopolitical flashpoint over enforcement of sanctions at sea, with the U.S. signaling it will not let sanctioned vessels evade oversight, and Russia asserting the ship’s rights under its newly claimed registry — raising the stakes for a possible maritime confrontation in international waters.
#Breaking #OilTanker #Sanctions #US #Russia #MaritimeSecurity
Despite diplomatic protests from Moscow and Russia’s dispatch of naval escorts — including surface ships and possibly a submarine — to protect the tanker, U.S. forces are maintaining surveillance and planning potential interception as it sails northeast toward European waters.
The operation highlights a growing geopolitical flashpoint over enforcement of sanctions at sea, with the U.S. signaling it will not let sanctioned vessels evade oversight, and Russia asserting the ship’s rights under its newly claimed registry — raising the stakes for a possible maritime confrontation in international waters.
#Breaking #OilTanker #Sanctions #US #Russia #MaritimeSecurity
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