Benedict Smith
Russia has sent a submarine to escort a sanctioned oil tanker that the US is planning to seize off the coast of Ireland.
The Bella 1 has been pursued by American authorities for weeks after managing to evade an American naval blockade of Venezuela in December and repelling a boarding attempt by the US Coast Guard.
The tanker, which has now been spotted about 400 kilometres from Ireland’s west coast, hastily changed its registration from Guyana to Russia in late December. Moscow filed a diplomatic request for the US to halt its chase, which has so far been ignored.
A US official said on Tuesday that Russia had sent a submarine and other naval assets to escort the Bella 1, according to The Wall Street Journal, in a sign of rising tensions between the two countries.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the same day it was monitoring the tanker’s situation “with concern”, according to a state news agency.
The vessel appears to be making a break for the Russian port of Murmansk by heading through the Barents Sea, although it could also enter Norwegian territorial waters.
Washington appears determined to seize the tanker even though it is empty, having failed to reach Venezuela and load up with crude oil as its crew intended.
American surveillance planes stationed at an RAF base in Suffolk appear to have been tracking the Bella 1, which has since been renamed the Marinera, in recent days.
Images shared on social media also show US troops practising rappelling from an aircraft along the coast, prompting speculation they plan to launch a second attempt to board the vessel.
British officials reportedly fear seizing the tanker could spark retaliation from Russia, but at the same time are wary of alienating the US by refusing support.
The US last month apprehended two oil tankers, the Skipper and the Centuries, around Venezuela, declaring they were part of a “shadow fleet” that transports illicit oil evading sanctions regimes.
President Donald Trump has said his naval blockade of Venezuela will remain in place, along with the US “armada” assembled in the Caribbean, despite capturing Nicolás Maduro, the former Venezuelan leader, in an early morning raid on Saturday.
The operation, which saw the Venezuelan leader bundled into a helicopter from his Caracas compound, has also proved a flashpoint in relations with Moscow.
On Monday, Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow’s ambassador to the UN, criticised Trump’s “act of armed aggression” and accused the US of acting illegally.
The Telegraph, London
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