U.S. European Command has released a photo of the oil tanker M/V Marinera, formerly known as Bella 1, taken from the deck of a shadowing U.S. Coast Guard cutter. The command said the vessel was seized under a federal court warrant for sanctions violations, as part of a joint U.S. operation.
This is also consistent with what our Norwegian source told us about 30 minutes before mainstream media reported on it.
U.S. officials told Reuters the operation was carried out by the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. military and that Russian military vessels were in the general vicinity, including a Russian submarine.
The New York Times reported a different account of proximity, citing two U.S. officials who said there were no Russian vessels near the Marinera (formerly Bella 1) at the moment the Coast Guard boarded the ship, reducing the risk of a U.S.-Russia standoff. The paper also reported that the boarding team encountered no resistance or hostility from the crew.
According to The Wall Street Journal, helicopters and at least one Coast Guard vessel were used in the takeover, with P-8 Poseidon aircraft and AC-130J gunships supporting the boarding.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation said it is monitoring reports of the boarding and called the situation “abnormal,” according to RIA.