Alerted in late December to U.S. plans to seize the sanctioned Marinera/Bella 1 cargo ship as it transited the Atlantic Ocean, Moscow allowed that vessel’s crew to reflag the Marinera as Russian. The Russians then let it be known that they had sent a submarine to escort the vessel. The implication: If U.S. forces moved to seize the Marinera, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel trailing, it might be torpedoed.
President Donald Trump rightly rejected these threats by ordering the Marinera to be seized, which it was by Navy SEALs without incident on Tuesday.
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