Report: U.S. Still Plans to Seize Fleeing Russian-Flagged Tanker
The Venezuela-linked tanker that turned around and fled across the Atlantic after a U.S. interception is still in a slow-speed race for safety, nearing the GIUK Gap and under surveillance by American and Irish aerial assets. Two U.S. intelligence officials told CBS on Monday that the current plan is still to seize the tanker, though this could change.
Shortly before Christmas, American forces began chasing a tanker linked to Venezuela's oil exports, the stateless vessel Bella 1 - a sanctioned VLCC with a past in the Iranian oil trade. Bella 1 was in ballast and approaching Venezuela, and making an apparent preparation to run a U.S. "blockade" on sanctioned tanker traffic. As U.S. forces closed in to carry out an interdiction, Bella 1 refused to permit boarding and reversed course.
A slow-speed pursuit across the Atlantic ensued. Mid-voyage, Bella 1 changed her name to Marinera - a Peruvian partner dance involving an exchange of cloth handkerchiefs - and changed her flag to the Russian ship registry. As of Monday, she was still under way, making eight knots on a course to pass between the UK and Iceland. Her destination is unknown, but if headed to a port in Russia, her course would align with a call in Murmansk. (She is too large for Russia's Baltic ports.)
Open-source aviation analysts have recently tracked U.S. Navy P-8 maritime patrol aircraft flying in the vicinity of the Marinera as the ship transits off Ireland. A parade of U.S. Air Force transports and a pair of AC-130J gunships - the same used to destroy drug-smuggling boats off Central America - have also been tracked flying into a RAF base in England as well, drawing speculation about a possible U.S. buildup, according to The Guardian.
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Marinera isn't the only tanker making a run from American reach. Coinciding with the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro over the weekend, as many as 16 laden tankers may have made the decision to attempt to run the blockade and escape Venezuela, according to the New York Times' visual investigations unit. Some appear to be spoofing their locations and their identifying information on AIS, according to the Times, while others have gone dark.
TankerTrackers.com has identified at least four vessels - Aquila II, Bertha, Veronica III and Vesna - that appear to be making an attempt to depart. Samir Madani, the consultancy's cofounder, told Bloomberg that the rush for the open sea appeared to be coordinated and was likely intended to saturate U.S. interdiction capabilities.
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