Russia monitors US pursuit of Marinera oil tanker

Russia is monitoring the situation with the oil tanker Marinera, which is being pursued by U.S. and NATO military forces in international waters of the North Atlantic, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia.

“For several days now, a U.S. Coast Guard ship has been following the Marinera, even though our vessel is about 4,000 km away from the U.S. coast,” the ministry said.

The ministry emphasised that the tanker is sailing under the Russian flag and in full compliance with international maritime law.

Russian diplomats expressed hope that Western countries would uphold the principles of freedom of navigation in international waters, which they publicly claim to support.

The Marinera, previously called Bella 1, was a ship previously flagged out of Panama and was sanctioned for its prior involvement in Iranian oil trading by the Treasury Department in 2024 under former President Joe Biden, according to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Now the ship is sailing under the Russian flag.

On January 5, The New York Times reported that at least 16 oil tankers attempted to evade the U.S. naval blockade by disguising their geographical locations or turning off their transmission beacons. 

US President Donald Trump unilaterally imposed a "total and complete blockade" on already sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers on December 16. 

By Khagan Isayev