This ship is an interesting case - I hope to read more about it in the coming days.
the ship was named Bella 1 and flew the flag of Guyana
if MarineTraffic is correct, it headed from Iran to Venezuela, empty
but you can take oil onboard a ship in Iran, why go to Venezuela?
the US coast guard wanted to board the ship, the tanker refused and changed course towards Europe
the US coast guard left a vessel to trail it
the tanker appeared in the Russian ship registry, named itself Marinera, and lacking a Russian flag, painted one on the hull
the US started fying special forces to the UK in an apparent interception bid
today morning, it was rumoured that Russia had sent (was sending?) a submarine and some surface vessel to escort the ship
today midday (UTC), US special forces landed a mini-helicopter on the tanker
they must have come from another ship, since one doesn’t operate minicopters far above ocean
I conclude they were in hurry
the tanker’s crew did not offer resistance
the tanker has since changed course southwards
evidence of a Russian escort has not been published at this time
however, the ship’s operator obviously had connections in Russia, to get the ship registered and the story published in “Russia Today”
…and I’m puzzled. At some point I thought it might carry sensitive cargo. But a tiny force (4 men were visible, Little Bird can carry up to 6 men) boarded without resistance, and a ship carrying sensitive cargo has far more guys defending it. As far as I can gather from public sources, the rumoured submarine never surfaced and never took steps to forbid the takeover.
I wonder, what would a submarine do to prevent boarding by helicopter?
In case of the usual Kilo class, a submarine might threaten to fire an antiaircraft missile. They don’t have air surveillance radar, but can fire heat seekers.
This ship is an interesting case - I hope to read more about it in the coming days.
…and I’m puzzled. At some point I thought it might carry sensitive cargo. But a tiny force (4 men were visible, Little Bird can carry up to 6 men) boarded without resistance, and a ship carrying sensitive cargo has far more guys defending it. As far as I can gather from public sources, the rumoured submarine never surfaced and never took steps to forbid the takeover.
Truly puzzling, and I appreciate how you’ve laid it out.
I wonder, what would a submarine do to prevent boarding by helicopter?
In case of the usual Kilo class, a submarine might threaten to fire an antiaircraft missile. They don’t have air surveillance radar, but can fire heat seekers.