Video appears to show a US Coast Guard ship sailing close to the Marinera, an empty oil tanker that has been trying to evade a US blockade near Venezuela.
Footage published by Russia Today, a state-controlled media group, appeared to be filmed from on board Marinera, one of a Venezuelan “shadow fleet” of tankers carrying oil in breach of US and international sanctions. It shows a ship in the distance appearing to match the appearance of a US Coast Guard Legend-class cutter.
The Marinera, formerly known as Bella 1, has renamed itself and painted a Russian flag on its side in an apparent bid for Russian protection.