Russia has sent a submarine to escort a sanctioned oil tanker the US is planning to seize off the coast of Ireland, APA reports, citing The Telegraph.
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 around 250 miles 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.
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