US seizure of oil tanker illegal and an act of piracy: Russia

Russia said on Jan 7 that the US seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the Atlantic was a violation of maritime law, and a senior lawmaker described it as "outright piracy".

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Russia's Transport Ministry said contact with the vessel, the Marinera, had been lost after US naval forces boarded it near Iceland as part of efforts to block oil exports from Venezuela.

"In accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies in the high seas, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states," the ministry said in a statement.

Russia is demanding that US ensure humane and decent treatment of the Russian crew members and their swift return home, state news agency TASS quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying.