LONDON, Jan 27 - The captain of the Venezuela-linked crude oil tanker Marinera has been taken from British territorial waters and is now aboard a U.S. coast guard vessel, according to statements from the lawyer representing the captain's wife.
U.S. Coast Guard personnel and U.S. military special forces, executing a judicial seizure warrant, apprehended the Russian-flagged Marinera - previously known as the Bella-1 - on January 7 in the Atlantic near Iceland. The capture followed a pursuit lasting more than two weeks and formed part of U.S. efforts to prevent Venezuelan oil exports, the lawyer said.
Following its seizure, the tanker was relocated to a position off the coast of Scotland. Despite legal steps taken to try to prevent the removal of the ship's officers from Scottish jurisdiction, Captain Avtandil Kalandadze - a Georgian national - and the vessel's First Officer were removed from the area and placed on the U.S. coast guard cutter Munro, the lawyer Aamer Anwar, who represents Kalandadze's wife Natia Dzadzama, 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," Anwar said in a statement.
On Monday, a Scottish court issued an interim order aimed at preventing the captain's removal while a judicial review of his detention was considered. That interim order was recalled in the early hours of Tuesday after the court was informed that Kalandadze was already outside British territorial waters, Anwar said.
There was no immediate response from the U.S. Coast Guard, the devolved Scottish government, or the British government's Scotland Office, according to the lawyer's statement.
Anwar added that the remainder of the Marinera's crew - 26 people in total - were processed at a British army centre in Inverness. Five crew members opted to travel to the United States. The others have made alternative travel arrangements to return to their home countries.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said last week that Moscow expected the U.S. to free the crew members, whom Lavrov said included two Russians as well as Ukrainians, Georgians and Indians.
The lawyer's account details a sequence of enforcement, relocation and rapid judicial developments that intersect with cross-border jurisdictional questions and diplomatic sensitivity. At present, the captain's transfer to the U.S. coast guard vessel and the recalled Scottish order remain the central, confirmed elements reported by the lawyer representing the captain's spouse.
Location and status: The Marinera was seized on January 7 in the Atlantic near Iceland and later positioned off Scotland. Captain Avtandil Kalandadze was removed from British jurisdiction and placed on the U.S. cutter Munro, the firm representing his wife said.
Crew processing: Twenty-six crew were processed in Inverness; five chose U.S. travel and the rest arranged travel home.
Official responses: No immediate comment was recorded from the U.S. Coast Guard, the Scottish government or the British Scotland Office, as reported by the captain's wife's lawyer.