Russia sent a formal diplomatic request to the US State Department on New Year’s Eve demanding the United States stop pursuing the oil tanker that evaded Coast Guard forces during a 10-day chase in the Atlantic.
The vessel, previously known as Bella 1, now appears in Russia’s official ship registry under the new name Marinera, with Sochi listed as its home port on the Black Sea. The tanker’s crew painted a Russian flag on the hull and radioed the Coast Guard claiming they operate under Russian authority.
Read: Fleeing Bella 1 Crew Paints Russian Flag as Coast Guard Chase Enters Second Week
The formal diplomatic request, according to the New York Times, was delivered to the State Department late on New Year’s Eve and sent to the White House’s Homeland Security Council, citing sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A US official disputed Russia’s claim, stating the Trump administration continues to view the tanker as “stateless” because it was flying a false flag when the Coast Guard first attempted to board it on December 21. Under international law, vessels flying a country’s flag fall under that state’s jurisdiction and protection.
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, coast guards have the right to detain vessels without registration or suspected of fraud. The US initially classified Bella 1 as sailing under a false flag, making it subject to a court-ordered seizure.
The tanker was sanctioned by the US Treasury in June 2024 for allegedly transporting Iranian oil on behalf of designated terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah, the Yemeni Houthis and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The vessel is part of the shadow fleet used to transport sanctioned oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
Whether the retroactive registration will prove effective in protecting the vessel from seizure remains unclear, as US officials maintain the ship lacked legitimate registration when the pursuit began.
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