Russia has made a formal request to the US to stop chasing the Bella 1, an oil tanker the US attempted to seize off the coast of Venezuela and has been pursuing in the Atlantic Ocean since December 21, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
The report said that as the ship had been fleeing the US Coast Guard, it appeared in a Russian registry under a new name, the Marinera, with its homeport listed as Sochi, a Russian city on the Black Sea. During the pursuit, the ship also painted a Russian flag on its hull and radioed the Coast Guard to say they were sailing under Russian authority, sources told the Times.
It’s unclear if Russia’s request will stop the Trump administration’s pursuit of the tanker. CNN reported this week that the Trump administration may abandon its pursuit, but assets have been readied in case the White House orders the capture of the vessel, which would require a Maritime Special Response Team with experience in boarding vessels that do not submit to seizure.
So far, the US has seized two ships carrying Venezuelan oil after President Trump declared a “complete and total” blockade on “sanctioned tankers” going in and out of Venezuelan ports. One of the vessels the US captured was not under US sanctions, though either way, the US has no legal right to seize vessels in international waters, whether or not they’re under sanctions.
The US imposed more Venezuela oil-related sanctions on Wednesday in a sign that more seizures are coming, though according to a report from Reuters, some tankers have recently arrived in the country despite the US blockade. The US company Chevron, which operates in Venezuela, has also continued to export Venezuelan oil to the US.
