Sanctioned oil tanker pursued by US tracked – after ‘Russian flag painted on hull’
Tracking data has revealed the location of a sanctioned crude oil tanker pursued by the US and reportedly escorted by the Russian navy.
The US Coast Guard previously tried to board the Bella 1 tanker off the coast of Venezuela in December and, as we reported at 7.43, the Wall Street Journal quotes an American official as saying a Russian submarine has been escorting the vessel.
After it left the Caribbean, the ship’s name was changed from Bella 1 to Marinera, and it adopted the Russian flag, according to AI maritime analytics firm Windward.
Windward also reported the tanker painted a Russian flag on its hull to avoid capture by the US Coast Guard in the Atlantic.
Under international law, vessels flying a country’s flag are under the protection of that nation.
The tanker appears to have sailed with a Guianan flag before this change.
The Marinera is now within Iceland’s exclusive economic zone as of around 7am this morning, according to maritime intelligence firm Marine Traffic, citing satellite data.
Where was the tanker before Venezuela?
The tanker loaded crude oil at KhargIsland in Iran in early September, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler, before crossing the Atlantic.
It switched off its Automatic Identification System (AIS) in the Strait of Hormuz prior to loading, a common tactic observed among vessels loading sanctioned Iranian crude oil.
The vessel was then tracked from Iran, from where it apparently travelled with no load towards Venezuela.
It was seen on 17 December, then it appeared to retreat after the US announced it was actively pursuing it.
On 21 December, the tanker made 39 distress calls. The first distress call was made at 12.26 and the last at 17.13.
It was just over 500km (311 miles) from the coast of Antigua and Barbuda when it sent these calls.
Since its retreat from the Caribbean Sea, it has travelled towards the North Atlantic and was seen on tracking on 3 January just over 1,000km (621 miles) from the Irish coast.
Today, it’s just over 300km (186 miles) from Iceland.
The tanker was sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in June 2024 for its involvement in Iranian oil transport.
It is registered to a company based in Turkey, Louis Marine Shipholding ENT, which is also sanctioned.