After a ten-day slow-motion chase, Vladimir Putin has thrown the rogue VLCC-class tanker M/T Bella 1 a lifeline. On New Year's Eve, the formerly stateless ship suddenly appeared on Russia's maritime registry, and Moscow asked Washington to cease efforts to board the ship.
The M/T Bella 1, reported to be owned by Istanbul-based Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises S.A., had been registered in Panama, but it was showing Guyana registration on AIS, the marine transponder system. There is no record of it being registered anywhere, making it a "stateless" vessel. It refused to permit U.S. Coast Guard personnel to board the ship on December 21, when it was challenged while empty and inbound to Venezuela. This led to a multi-day chase at a max speed of about 15 miles per hour as the Navy and Coast Guard wrestled with the problem of conducting a boarding operation in the face of resistance; see US Coast Guard in Hot Pursuit of Ford Bronco in the Caribbean – RedState.
On December 30, in what now seems less clownish and more a foreshadowing of events, the crew of Bella 1 painted a giant Russian flag on the side of the ship.
OK, so the desperate crew of the BELLA 1 (9230880), who just happen to be fans of "Lord of War" like the rest of us, decided to paint on the Russian flag in order to stave off a boarding by the US Coast Guard.
— TankerTrackers.com, Inc. (@TankerTrackers) December 30, 2025
One issue however, is that they're not pinging over AIS to show that,…
At the same time, the ship abruptly altered course from the Mediterranean in the direction of Iceland/Greenland.
On New Year's Eve, the Bella 1 suddenly appeared in the official Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, the vessel, as the Marinera. The database lists the vessel as flying the Russian flag, with the Black Sea port of Sochi as its home port.
Even though a seizure warrant was issued for the Bella 1, this move effectively ends the Coast Guard's attempts to board.
Bella 1 used the exception in Art 92 to re-register.
— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️ (@mercoglianos) January 1, 2026
The renamed Marinera went under the Russian registry and did this while in international waters.
However, it appears that she is now classified by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (she was previously under Lloyds)… https://t.co/jyvFOGkadK pic.twitter.com/BbAhRuE8bh
As if to underscore the seriousness of the situation, the Kremlin has requested that the U.S. desist in any efforts to board the vessel and cease pursuit.
On the positive side of the ledger, there is one less supertanker in the "dark fleet" running bootleg oil from rogue states to China. On the negative side of the ledger, the operation demonstrated the lack of will or ability of the U.S. to board any ship whose captain gives us the upright middle finger. I'm not sure sane people believed that the Coast Guard was taking days to find a competent boarding party for the operation. Of course, considering the wreckage left of that service after four years of Biden budgets, neglect, and DEI leadership, that could be the case. The indecision was obviously driven by how the Coast Guard does something that is accomplished by Minnesota voters Somali pirates or a frequent basis: taking control of a ship that is resisting boarding.
In the end, it seems that the will to follow through was lacking. I fear this will raise the ante for the sailors and Coast Guardsmen who carry out future operations now that we've shown we are not terribly serious about enforcing our semi-embargo of Venezuelan oil.
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