A tanker master has pleaded guilty in a U.S. court after leading the Coast Guard on a weeks-long pursuit across the Atlantic while commanding a vessel linked to Iran’s shadow oil trade.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the master of the tanker Bella 1 admitted to failing to obey a lawful order to stop for a Coast Guard boarding. Sentencing is scheduled for August 7. The offence carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and U.S. authorities said the seafarer is expected to be deported after serving any sentence.
The case stems from December 2025, when Bella 1 was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard while sailing toward Venezuela. Instead of complying with orders to heave to, the tanker fled across the Atlantic, triggering a pursuit that lasted more than two weeks before the vessel was seized on January 7, 2026.
U.S. prosecutors said the vessel transported approximately 1.8 million barrels of Iranian crude oil to Asia while using sanctions-evasion tactics commonly associated with the shadow fleet. These allegedly included operating with its AIS transponder switched off and concealing the vessel’s identity during ship-to-ship oil transfers.
Authorities further alleged that records and information aboard the tanker were destroyed during the pursuit. According to court documents, the vessel’s operators also attempted to avoid enforcement by renaming the tanker Marinera and registering it under the Russian flag while the chase was underway.
Following its seizure, the tanker was taken to Scotland. U.S. authorities described the operation as part of a broader effort targeting sanctions-evasion networks involved in Iranian oil exports.
The vessel has continued to change identities since the incident. Most recently, AIS data shows the 318,518-dwt tanker, built in 2002, is operating under the name Era and the flag of Comoros. According to tracking data, it is currently underway toward Trinidad. The latest name change marks the ninth identity used by the vessel during its operational history.
