A legal fight is unfolding in Scotland over a Venezuelan-linked oil tanker seized by US forces in the North Sea and the fate of its captain, the Guardian reports. Lawyers for the wife of Capt. Avtandil Kalandadze, a Georgian national commanding the Russian-flagged Marinera, have asked Scotland's highest civil court to review what they call his unlawful detention. The Marinera, previously known as Bella 1, was intercepted by US forces earlier this month as it sailed between Iceland and Scotland and has since been anchored in the Moray Firth, a sheltered inlet off the country's northeast coast.
The sanctioned tanker had reportedly been tracked across the Atlantic after appearing to approach the US naval cordon around Venezuela. Attorney Aamer Anwar, representing Kalandadze's wife, Natia Dzadzama, told the Court of Session in Edinburgh that her husband has been held by the US Navy on the Marinera since Jan. 7 "without any recourse to a court or tribunal." The petition claims he is stuck in "legal limbo" and that Dzadzama has serious concerns about his safety and legal rights.
Lawyers are seeking an emergency order to stop the ship and crew from being taken out of Scottish jurisdiction before the case can be fully heard. On Monday evening, Lord Young granted a limited temporary order barring the advocate general for Scotland, the lord advocate, Scottish ministers, and anyone acting for them from removing Kalandadze or his crew from the court's territorial reach. The UK armed forces helped with the high-seas operation but did not board the vessel, which had initially sailed under a false Guyanese flag before switching to a Russian one. A full hearing on the captain's status is expected in the coming days, the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service confirmed.
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