Captain of seized Venezuela-linked tanker now aboard US vessel, wife’s lawyer says

LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) – The captain of a Venezuela-linked crude oil tanker seized by the U.S. this month has been taken from British territorial waters and is now aboard a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, a lawyer for the captain’s wife said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. military special forces, bearing a judicial seizure warrant, apprehended the Russian-flagged Marinera in the Atlantic near Iceland on January 7 after pursuing it for more than two weeks as part of Washington’s efforts to block Venezuelan oil exports.

After its capture, the tanker was moved to a location off the coast of Scotland.

Despite legal attempts to stop their removal, Captain Avtandil Kalandadze, a Georgian, and the boat’s first officer were taken from Scottish jurisdiction to the U.S. Coast Guard vessel Munro, Aamer Anwar, the lawyer for Kalandadze’s wife, Natia Dzadzama, said.

COURT ORDER REVOKED

On Monday, a Scottish court issued an interim order preventing the captain’s removal pending a judicial review of his detention, but the order was revoked early Tuesday after the court heard Kalandadze was already outside British territorial waters, Anwar said.

“Our client’s judicial review can no longer be enforced now her husband has, in essence, been abducted by the U.S. government on Scottish and British territory,” he said in a statement.

A British government spokesperson said at the request of U.S. authorities, crew members had been allowed to disembark for onward travel and would be processed in line with appropriate immigration and legal requirements.

“Deterring, disrupting and degrading the Russian shadow fleet is a priority for this government. Alongside our allies, we are stepping up our response to shadow vessels – and we will continue to do so,” the spokesperson added, referring to ships that transport oil under sanctions.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Coast Guard or the Scottish government. 

Anwar said the other 26 crew of the Marinera, formerly known as the Bella-1, had been processed at a British army centre in Inverness. Five had chosen to travel to the United States, while the others chose alternative travel arrangements to their home countries, Anwar said.

Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow had expected the U.S. to free the crew members, which he said included two Russians, as well as Ukrainians, Georgians and Indians.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Alex Richardson, Rod Nickel)