{"id":700915,"date":"2026-01-16T23:48:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T23:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/700915\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T23:48:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T23:48:19","slug":"seized-tanker-moored-in-scottish-waters-will-be-taken-to-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/700915\/","title":{"rendered":"Seized tanker moored in Scottish waters will be taken to the US"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ken Banks,North east Scotland reporterand<\/p>\n<p>Ben Philip<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/a8a6a8b0-f2cc-11f0-80cd-e77eaadcaecf.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Reuters The tanker is a large ship with rusty marks on its hull. The upper part of its hull is painted blue and it has a white bridge and a single blue funnel. In the foreground is a white US Coast Guard vessel. There are snow-covered hills in the background.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>Reuters<\/p>\n<p>The tanker has been in the Moray Firth with its US Coast Guard escort<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">A Russian-flagged oil tanker seized by the US in the north Atlantic and currently moored in Scottish waters is to be taken to the United States, BBC Scotland understands. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The US has accused the Marinera of breaking its sanctions by carrying oil for Venezuela, Russia and Iran.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The ship, previously known as Bella 1, <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c5y2v8ngl14o\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"noopener\">was boarded while south of Iceland<\/a> last week and is now in the Moray Firth while a US Coast Guard ship involved in the operation is berthed in Aberdeen. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">US administration sources said the tanker would be subject to a judicial forfeiture process when it arrives in the US and any individuals involved in its attempts to flee face federal prosecution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The UK government has backed the operation to seize the Marinera, saying it was lawful action against a vessel involved in breaking sanctions. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The Ministry of Defence provided operational support and US planes used UK airfields including some in Scotland. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">But Moscow denounced the seizure, demanding that the US treat Russians aboard properly and allow them to return to Russia quickly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The Russian transport ministry said it had given the vessel &#8220;temporary permission&#8221; to use the Russian flag, adding that no state had the right to use force against vessels properly registered in other states&#8217; jurisdictions.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/7aaf2270-f2d1-11f0-80cd-e77eaadcaecf.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"US Coast Guard shop berthed in Aberdeen.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A US vessel involved in the operation was seen in Aberdeen on Friday<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Earlier this week, Scotland&#8217;s first minister said he was &#8220;deeply concerned&#8221; to learn from media reports that the tanker seized by the US was in the Moray Firth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">John Swinney said he would have expected to have been told in advance about steps to accommodate the ship in the firth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The UK government said on Tuesday that it had entered UK waters to take on fresh supplies.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/fe3d1cf0-f2d1-11f0-b2eb-0ff8ae417a07.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"A US Coast Guard ship is dwarfed by offshore industry infrastructure in Aberdeen harbour\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Coast Guard ship is dwarfed by offshore industry infrastructure in Aberdeen<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It is understood US military aircraft <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c62nqjj29jgo\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"noopener\">landed at small civilian airports<\/a> in Wick, Caithness, and Benbecula in the Western Isles during the operation on 7 January.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The MoD did confirm at the time that the Royal Navy tanker RFA Tideforce and RAF surveillance aircraft were supporting American personnel and that &#8220;deterring, disrupting and degrading&#8221; Russia&#8217;s &#8220;shadow fleet&#8221; was a priority. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The Marinera has been in the firth off Burghead, a village on the Moray coast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The Moray Firth is a sheltered area of sea between the east Highland coast and the coasts of Moray and Aberdeenshire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ken Banks,North east Scotland reporterand Ben Philip Reuters The tanker has been in the Moray Firth with its&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-700915","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scotland","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-scotland","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115907455236981025","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}