“Russia has sent a submarine and other warships to protect an empty oil tanker trying to escape the US Coast Guard in the Atlantic Ocean.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Details: According to the publication’s sources, the incident concerns the tanker, which was previously called Bella 1. It is known that the tanker could not enter the ports of Venezuela to load oil and is currently empty. Despite the cargo’s absence, the US Coast Guard launched a pursuit of the vessel in the Atlantic Ocean as part of a wider campaign to detect and arrest a “shadow fleet” that transports illegal oil around the world, including oil from the Russian black market.
Advertising:
U.S. officials told reporters that in December, the tanker’s crew thwarted an attempt by the U.S. Coast Guard to board the vessel. After that, the ship headed for the open ocean, the crew clumsily painted a Russian flag on board, changed the registration to Russian and now goes by the name Marinera.
Literally: “Experts say Russia is concerned that the US is detaining tankers that carry its smuggled oil around the world and fuel its economy. In response, Moscow took the unprecedented step of allowing one of the tankers to register in Russia without inspection or other formalities.”
Details: Three US officials have confirmed that Russia has made a request to the US stop pursuing the vessel. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation said through state media that it was monitoring the situation “with concern”.
According to the Automatic Vessel Identification System (AIS), the US Coast Guard continues to follow the vessel in the eastern Atlantic. The tanker is currently about 480 km south of Iceland and is heading towards the North Sea towards the Russian port of Murmansk.
What preceded:
- An American court has issued a warrant for the arrest of the Bella 1 ship for the transportation of Iranian oil, the proceeds of 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.