Russian Owner of Notorious Tanker Challenge US Sale as It Reaches Scrappers

The crude oil tanker Bella 1 (aka Marinera) reportedly arrived at Chattogram, Bangladesh, on November 4, under the name Era, prompting urgent new court filings in the United States from the purported Russian owners of the vessel, who are challenging the United States' forfeiture and sale of the vessel. The vessel famously made international headlines in December 2025 and January 2026 as the United States Coast Guard chased it across the Atlantic before a seizure and took the vessel to Scotland.

Lawyers for Burevestmarin, a Russian company that claims to have acquired the vessel on December 17, 2025, are contesting the sale by the United States, calling it an “economically irrational sale for its own convenience,” and accusing the United States of conducting the “maneuver behind closed doors.”

In a filing on November 4, the lawyers revealed the tanker, which had been sold by the United States to GMS as a cash buyer, was resold on October 14 to a recycler in Bangladesh for $20,763,062.25, which they assert contradicts statements from the United States. It says the U.S. reported the GMS was not authorized under its license to transfer ownership of the ship and would retain the vessel while it was scrapped.

This story was originally published by The Maritime Executive. Read the full story at The Maritime Executive →