Supertanker Marinera

The Marinera is the most recent name of a 318,000 ton supertanker, built in 2002, in South Korea. She was seized, on January 7, 2026, by US forces, after the USCGC Munro, following a hot pursuit that began off the coast of Venezuala, in December, 2025.

Vessel history

Her previous names include: Mtov, Overseas Mulan, Seaways Mulan, Xiao Zhu Shan, Xiao Zhu Shan and Bella 1.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, international sanctions were implemented, intended to prevent Russia from exporting its oil. In order to continue exporting oil, in spite of the sanctions, Russia is reported to have started using a dark fleet of supertankers. These vessels either sailed under false flags, or sailed under flags of convenience of countries that did not honor the sanctions, or which had a bad record of monitoring their vessels, or sailed with no paperwork, whatsoever. Commentators have pointed out that the vessel recent name-changes were indicative of the owners trying to evade scrutiny, as the vessel is part of Russia's dark fleet.

Her last name change took place just days prior to her capture by the United States, during her chase by the USCGC Munro. Sal Mercogliano, an expert on shipping, made several claims as to what would have made the Marinera a legally defensible for boarding:

1. Other nations could board her if they thought she was evading the international sanctions against shipping Russian oil;
2. Other nations could board her if they thought her paperwork was not in order;
3. Other nations could board her if they thought she was sailing without paperwork.

Sal Mercogliano asserted her last name, at sea, would only be legal if her underlying ownership had changed, and he doubted this was the case.

According to Новая газета Европа the vessel's sole owner, for the six months preceding her seizure, has been Илья Бугай, a native of contested Crimea.

History of sanctions

According to Новая газета Европа the vessel has been subject to international sanctions since June 2024.