US-seized tanker Marinera owned by businessman from occupied Crimea

According to data from the International Maritime Organization's Global Integrated Shipping Information System and the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the company Burevestmarine was registered in Ryazan six months ago.

However, it appears to have been engaged in maritime transport activities. Several job vacancies related to shipping posted by the company in 2025 can be found on employment websites.

Since 2018, Bugai has also served as the chief executive officer of Rusneftekhimtrorg, a company engaged in trading petroleum products.

In 2020, the company earned 4 billion rubles ($49.6 million), after which its revenue declined sharply, and in 2024 (the latest available data), the company posted losses.

According to Bugai's social media posts, he graduated from Crimean Federal University in 2008 and currently lives in Moscow.

US detains shadow fleet tankers

Yesterday, January 7, the Russian vessel Bella 1 (now named Marinera) was detained by US military forces for violating US sanctions.

The oil tanker was detained in the North Atlantic on the basis of a warrant issued by a US federal court after it was tracked by the US Coast Guard cutter USCGC Munro.

It later became known that, in addition to the tanker Marinera in the Atlantic Ocean, the United States also seized another vessel from Russia's sanctioned shadow fleet in the Caribbean Sea — the tanker Sophia.

Both vessels, Bella I and Sophia, last docked in Venezuela or were en route to the country.

The US Department of Justice is preparing to bring criminal charges against members of the crew of the oil tanker Bella 1, detained in the Atlantic Ocean for violating US sanctions.

According to US Vice President JD Vance, the seized tanker was only posing as Russian in order to evade sanctions.