UK Armed Forces assisted in US seizure of Russian-registered oil tanker

Original Story on
The Washington Examiner


The U.K. military provided "enabling support" to the United States in its seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker registered in Russia, British officials said on Wednesday

The Marinera tanker, originally known as the Bella 1, was intercepted in the joint U.S.-U.K. operation after a two-week pursuit.

The British Armed Forces provided "pre-planned operational support" to the U.S. military, which boarded the Bella 1 while it sailed between the U.K. and the Arctic islands of Greenland and Iceland, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said in a statement provided by the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Moscow accused Washington of breaking the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, saying "no state has the right to use force against ships properly registered in the jurisdictions of other states."

"This ship, with a nefarious history, is part of a Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion which is fuelling terrorism, conflict, and misery from the Middle East to Ukraine," Healey said. "The UK will continue to step up our action against shadow fleet activity to protect our national security, our economy, and global stability — making Britain secure at home and strong abroad."

MSN

 

[1LoverofGod]

Related:

Russian MP warns 'sink American boats' as Moscow pushes WW3 nuclear threat

A prominent figure within the Russian Duma delivered a bone-chilling warning to the United States in the wake of its military seizing two oil tankers suspected of belonging to the notorious "ghost fleet".

Aleksey Zhuravlyov, serving as first deputy head of the defence committee, went as far as floating the possibility of nuclear retaliation, citing the nation's "military doctrine" as justification.

The seizure of the Marinera, formerly known as Bella 1, was branded by him as tantamount to "an attack on Russian territory" given its Russian flag status, reports the Express.

Russian MP says 'sink US boats' and threatens nuclear response to tanker seizure

Aleksey Zhuravlyov, first deputy head of the Russian Duma's defence committee, said the US seizure of oil tanker Marinera, was like 'an attack on Russian territory'

www.irishmirror.ie

 

[Margery]

The usual push back from Russia. However depending on what's discovered on board this could actually escalate to a diplomatic incident. Right now though it doesn't seem like much more than an annoyed irritated sound from the Russians. They'll probably do some token response- probably aimed at Britain, not the US, but unlikely to escalate.