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Comment on 'Outright Piracy': Russia Decries US Seizure of Oil Tanker as Violation of International Law

Article 92 Status of ships

Ships shall sail under the flag of one State only and, save in exceptional cases expressly provided for in international treaties or in this Convention, shall be subject to its exclusive jurisdiction on the high seas. ** A ship may not change its flag during a voyage or while in a port of call, save in the case of a real transfer of ownership or change of registry.**

A ship which sails under the flags of two or more States, using them according to convenience, may not claim any of the nationalities in question with respect to any other State, and may be assimilated to a ship without nationality.

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BrikoX@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

The Marinera was reportedly not carrying any cargo when US forces seized it.

It wasn’t in the voyage.

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- almost1337@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  The aging, rusting tanker, originally called the Bella 1, was sanctioned by the US in 2024 for operating within a “shadow fleet” of tankers transporting illicit Iranian oil.
  
  Last month the US Coast Guard attempted to seize the vessel while it was heading to Venezuela to pick up oil, then operating under the flag of Guyana. But the ship’s crew refused to be boarded and made an abrupt turn into the Atlantic.
  
  The Bella 1’s crew later painted a Russian flag on its side, and it appeared in a Russian shipping register under a new name, the Marinera.
  
  cnn.com/…/russia-oil-tanker-seizure-what-we-know-…
  
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  - BrikoX@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    
    Last month the US Coast Guard attempted to seize the vessel while it was heading to Venezuela to pick up oil, then operating under the flag of Guyana.
    
    My bad, I read that US considered it stateless. But in this case it was still illegal action on the US part, since then only Guyana had jurisdiction.
    
    But the ship’s crew refused to be boarded and made an abrupt turn into the Atlantic.
    
    So they cancelled their voyage?
    
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    almost1337@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    The truth is most likely that the ship is part of the Russian shadow fleet. It may have been pretending to be registered in Guyana, then changed to Russia when they were caught out.
    
    To my mind, the question is “does an enforcement gap exist in maritime law regarding these ships, and should the US be filling that gap?”
    
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