Washington’s efforts to board an oil tanker in the Atlantic have become complicated after its crew painted a Russian flag on the ship’s side, US officials said Tuesday.
The Bella 1 has evaded the Coast Guard for more than 10 days since refusing an interception attempt near Venezuela on 21 December.
The crew applied a Russian tricolour to the hull and now asserts the vessel operates under Russian authority, according to US media reports.
Washington had obtained a court order permitting seizure based on the tanker’s history of moving Iranian crude, but the flag complicates enforcement under maritime law.
The vessel was approaching Venezuela without cargo when Coast Guard personnel moved to board. Instead of stopping, the ship reversed direction and headed into open ocean.
US Coast Guard tracked the tanker at roughly 800 metres distance while Washington determines the vessel’s legal status through diplomatic channels.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea permits authorities to board ships flying false flags or operating without valid registration. If Russia formally registered Bella 1, forcible boarding could trigger diplomatic tensions.
The US Treasury sanctioned the tanker in 2024 for allegedly moving Iranian oil on behalf of Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Turkey-based Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises owns the vessel. Most crew members come from Russia, India and Ukraine, one official said.
Maritime tracking shows Bella 1 loaded Iranian crude at Kharg Island in September before disabling its location transponder near the Strait of Hormuz, according to analytics firm Kpler.
The ship remained undetected for two months. When signals resumed, the tanker was empty, suggesting it transferred cargo at sea to other vessels.
Bella 1 crossed into the Atlantic in early December and initially declared Curaçao as its destination. After US forces seized another tanker on 10 December, Bella 1 abruptly changed course.
The vessel’s transponder has been off since 17 December. Officials believe it may be heading towards Iceland or Greenland based on its northwest trajectory.
Washington is assembling a Maritime Special Response Team capable of boarding vessels by force, including rappelling from helicopters onto hostile ships.
US President Donald Trump said Monday authorities will capture the tanker. “We’ll end up getting it,” he told reporters in Florida.
The pursuit marks the third such operation this month. US Coast Guard forces successfully intercepted two other tankers carrying Venezuelan crude, escorting both to Texas.
