Russia Requests Trump Admin To Stop Pursuit Of Oil Tanker In Atlantic Basin

The U.S. State Department received a request from Russia on New Year’s Eve to stop pursuing an oil tanker in the Atlantic Basin linked to a dark-fleet network that ships Venezuelan crude, according to a New York Times report citing sources familiar with the matter.

Ship FLEEING US military paints ‘RUSSIAN flag’ on its hull — NYT

Allegedly seeking Russian ‘protection’ as US tries to SEIZE Bella 1

Bella 1 has been pursued for OVER A WEEK since sailing near Venezuela https://t.co/Y5KVhJie1A pic.twitter.com/SRwxq7zBXE

— RT (@RT_com) December 30, 2025

Late Wednesday evening, the State Department and the White House’s Homeland Security Council received a request from Russia to halt the pursuit of the Bella-1 tanker, which is now flying a Russian flag after the crew painted it on the hull.

Bella-1 has evaded U.S. Coast Guard boarding attempts for 10 days after refusing to comply with an interception order near Venezuela on December 21. The crux of the issue is that the Trump administration views the tanker as “stateless” because it was flying a false flag when the Coast Guard first approached it.

The New York Times noted:

In the days since, the ship has tried to claim the protection of Russia, with its crew painting a Russian flag on the side and radioing the Coast Guard to say they were sailing under Russian authority. The Bella-1 recently appeared in Russia’s official register of ships, under a new name, the Marinera, with a home port of Sochi on the Black Sea.

. . .

Although securing Russian protection may be a long shot for Bella-1 under international law, Russia’s diplomatic intervention could complicate the U.S. effort to seize the tanker, which stems from an ongoing conflict with Venezuela. David Tannenbaum, a former sanctions compliance officer at the Treasury Department, said earlier this week that it was “unclear” whether Russia’s provision of “overnight flag registration” to the ship would prove valid.

More color on the situation from maritime expert Sal Mercogliano: 

Bella 1 used the exception in Art 92 to re-register.

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

— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) (@mercoglianos) January 1, 2026

Russia’s request that the Coast Guard stop chasing Bella-1 in the Atlantic Basin certainly adds another dimension to peace deal negotiations in the four-year-long war in Ukraine. It also complicates President Trump’s gunboat diplomacy aimed at toppling the Maduro regime in Venezuela.