U.S. forces successfully launched a mission to seize the Marinera, formerly Bella 1, on Jan. 7. Russian state media released imagery from the vessel
  • MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io
    271·
    2 days ago

    *filled with Venezuelan oil, not Russian oil.

    And a second tanker in the Caribbean

    Edit: not even filled with oil, it tried to dock in Venezuela, couldn’t because of the embargo, and got chased across the Atlantic. It changed its registration to Russian last week and even painted on a Russian flag mid-pursuit to attract Russian protection.

    • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago

      Wouldn’t raising a Russian flag make it more legitimate to seize, not less?

      • MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io
        1·
        2 days ago

        I don’t think so. Iirc, there is no sanction against Russian tanker ships, the sanction is on the Russian oil they carry. I’m no expert on maritime law, but I raising the Russian flag puts it under the auspices of the Russian government, so Russia has the right defend it under international law (it had a submarine escort) and lay claims against crimes against the vessel. It makes capturing the vessel a choice to get into a (additional) political entanglement with Russia.

        This incident may also have implications to the convention of freedom of navigation . I don’t know. Again: not an expert