The United States indicted the captain of an oil tanker that led American forces on a weekslong chase across the Atlantic Ocean after being stopped on its way to Venezuela, the first time President Trump’s crackdown on Venezuelan oil has resulted in criminal charges.
The captain, Avtandil Kalandadze, was charged with two federal crimes, according to the Feb. 12 indictment, which has not previously been reported. The first count accused Mr. Kalandadze of falsely flying the flag of Guyana on the tanker — the ship was not registered in that country — in an attempt to evade being seized by the U.S. Coast Guard on Dec. 20. The second accuses Mr. Kalandadze of failing to obey an order from the Coast Guard to stop the tanker and allow U.S. forces to board it.
Instead, the ship, then known as Bella 1, which had been sailing in the Caribbean Sea toward Venezuela, turned back into the Atlantic, chased by U.S. forces. Along the way, the ship changed its name to Marinera and claimed Russian protection. Its crew painted a Russian flag on the tanker’s side, and it was registered in Russia’s official ship database.
The Russian government used diplomatic channels to request that the United States stop chasing the tanker. But U.S. forces boarded and seized the ship on Jan. 7, near the United Kingdom, detaining Mr. Kalandadze and the rest of the crew.
The seizure of the ship was part of Mr. Trump’s attempt to take control of Venezuela’s multi-billion-dollar oil industry. So far, the United States has boarded eight other vessels involved in the Venezuelan oil trade. The ships are part of a so-called ghost fleet transporting oil from Venezuela, Iran or Russia around the globe in violation of sanctions placed by the United States and other countries.
U.S. authorities had obtained a seizure warrant for the Bella 1 based on its history of transporting Iranian oil for groups linked to terrorism. After the ship was seized, Mr. Kalandadze’s wife, Natia Dzadzama, initiated an unsuccessful legal challenge in the United Kingdom, seeking a judicial review of her husband’s detention, according to local media reports.
Aamer Anwar, a lawyer for Ms. Dzadzama, said in a statement on Tuesday that “the U.S. has once again shown a total disregard for the rule of law and international obligations with its closest ally, the U.K.”
The White House and the Justice Department did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
The BBC reported last month that the United States planned to charge another member of the crew but had released the remaining 26 crew members.
Note: The International Maritime Organization issues an IMO number, a permanent identification number, that remains associated with a vessel throughout its lifetime unlike a ship’s name, which can change frequently. The ship in this article is 9230880, known as Marinera, or previously as Bella 1.
Nicholas Nehamas is a Washington correspondent for The Times, focusing on the Trump administration and its efforts to transform the federal government.
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