Five sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuela have been transferred to Russian ownership, - NYT
Five more tankers that were under US sanctions and near Venezuela have officially transferred to the Russian flag, allowing Moscow to legalize part of its "shadow fleet" to circumvent international restrictions.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to The New York Times.
Ships that previously concealed their origin under the flags of other countries are now officially under Russian jurisdiction. The re-registration took place while the tankers were anchored off the coast of Venezuela, which is also under severe Western sanctions.
According to data from the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, the Bella 1 and Hyperion vessels have been transferred to the Russian Federation flag. Three other tankers that were in Venezuelan waters have similarly changed their registration in recent days.
All five ships are under US sanctions for transporting Iranian or Russian oil. After changing their flags, they declared the Russian cities of Sochi and Taganrog as their ports of registry.
According to the publication, one of the tankers has already left Venezuelan territorial waters despite the US naval blockade imposed on sanctioned vessels.
What preceded it?
- On December 30, it became known that the Russian flag had been carelessly painted on the ship, apparently in an attempt to seek protection from Moscow. And on the 31st, the tanker was officially renamed from Bella 1 to Marinera and registered in Russia. Its port of registry is Sochi.
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The Russian government has sent an official diplomatic note to the US requesting that it stop pursuing the oil tanker Bella 1, which was heading to Venezuela and is now fleeing from the US Coast Guard in the Atlantic Ocean. Moscow has stated that the ship is currently sailing under the Russian flag.
