“An oil tanker that tried to escape from the US Coast Guard by painting a Russian flag on board has been officially renamed and entered into the State Register of Ships of the Russian Federation.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: The New York Times
Details: According to the updated information of the Russian Navy shipping registerthe vessel previously identified as Bella 1 is now registered as Marinera. The documents state that the tanker now sails under the state flag of Russia, and the city of Sochi is designated as its home port.
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Changing the flag creates a legal conflict. According to international law, ships flying the flag of a certain state are under its jurisdiction and protection. However, the tanker’s attempts to avoid American justice due to a retroactive registration change may prove futile.
U.S. officials said that when the pursuit began more than a week ago, the vessel was flying a false flag and had no legitimate registration, and thus was not under Russian protection. This, according to Washington, makes it a “neutral vessel” – without nationality, which is subject to inspection under international law.
According to the International Maritime Organization, the tanker was previously registered in Panama, Palau, Liberia and the Marshall Islands. The tanker belongs to the Turkish company Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises and is part of the so-called “shadow fleet” that transports oil subject to sanctions from the Russian Federation, Iran and Venezuela.
What preceded:
- The American court issued a warrant for the arrest of the vessel even before the attempt to seize it. The basis was the transportation of Iranian oil, the proceeds from the sale of which, according to Washington, are used to finance terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, the Yemeni Houthis, and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
- December 31 US Coast Guard stopped the operation from the seizure of a sanctioned tanker after the clumsily painted Russian tricolor appeared on its board.
- The US military has declared readiness for an assault and is waiting for an order from the White House.
- According to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the coast guard has the right to detain vessels without registration or on suspicion of fraud. At the start of the chase, the US classified Bella 1 as a false flag vessel.