US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by Russia

The U.S. Coast Guard chases oil tanker M/V Bella 1, also called Marinera

(Image credit: Department of Defense via AP)

What happened

The U.S. military and Coast Guard on Wednesday seized two oil tankers in separate operations aimed at controlling the flow of oil out of Venezuela. U.S. special forces boarded the Marinera near Iceland after a weekslong chase across the Atlantic that included the tanker changing its name from Bella 1 and its flag from Guyana to Russia. The U.S. also commandeered another “shadow fleet” tanker, the Sophia, in the Caribbean Sea, alleging unspecified “illicit activities.”

Who said what

The seizure of the Marinera drew condemnation from China, the main customer for Venezuela’s sanctioned oil, and Russia, which had added the empty tanker to its Maritime Register of Shipping after the Coast Guard started pursuing it in December. “Adding to the stakes,” The Wall Street Journal said, a “Russian navy ship and submarine began escorting the ship” days ago.

The Trump administration said it had legal authority to board the Marinera because it was flying a false flag. The ship’s “embrace of the Russian flag is part of a broader trend in which so-called shadow tanker vessels have sought the imprimatur of Russian protection,” The New York Times said. “For years, aged shadow vessels” have “provided a lifeline to states like Venezuela, Iran and Russia,” but it appears the “shadow fleet is stepping out of the shadows” as “Western nations have stepped up enforcement against the illicit oil trade around the globe.”

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What next?

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the Trump administration will allow sanctioned Venezuelan oil to flow again, but only to U.S. refineries, with the sales “done by the U.S. government and deposited into accounts controlled by the U.S. government.”

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.