The former master of the shadow fleet tanker Bella 1 has been sentenced to 10 months in federal prison after refusing orders to stop during a weeks-long U.S. Coast Guard pursuit across the Atlantic.
The Georgian captain pleaded guilty on June 12. He will be deported after completing his prison term.
The officer commanded the Bella 1 from September through late December 2025. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the tanker transported about 1.8 million barrels of Iranian-origin oil to Asia during that period.
Prosecutors said the vessel used several techniques associated with the shadow fleet. It switched off its AIS and concealed its name while conducting a ship-to-ship transfer of Iranian oil to another vessel.
The confrontation with U.S. authorities began in December 2025, when the Bella 1 was sailing toward Venezuela. The U.S. Coast Guard ordered the tanker to stop, but the captain refused and continued into the Atlantic. The pursuit lasted more than two weeks.
During the chase, prosecutors said the captain repeatedly ignored orders from U.S. law enforcement. He also followed instructions from a representative of the vessel’s operator to destroy records and other information aboard the tanker. Prosecutors said the move was intended to frustrate the interdiction.
The tanker changed its registration and name during the pursuit and became the Russian-flagged Marinera. U.S. officials said the change did not alter the vessel’s legal status. They also maintained that the tanker was operating under a false flag when authorities first approached it.
The pursuit ended on January 7. U.S. authorities seized the tanker in the Atlantic under a judicial seizure warrant.
The sentence for the tanker captain highlights a growing U.S. focus on individuals involved in sanctions-evasion trades, rather than only on the ships, owners and trading networks behind them.
