WASHINGTON

The crew member of an oil tanker fleeing the US Coast Guard in the Atlantic Ocean recently painted a Russian flag on the side of the vessel, the New York Times (NYT) reported Tuesday.

Citing two American officials, the NYT said the Bella 1’s crew members painted a Russian flag on the tanker during the escape and are now claiming Russian status.

It marks the latest development in a strange saga that started on Dec. 21, when the Coast Guard attempted to stop the vessel Bella 1 in the Caribbean as it headed toward Venezuela to load oil.

The tanker has been subject to US sanctions since last year for carrying Iranian oil that federal officials say is sold to fund "terrorist activities."

The officials said the vessel also appears to have recently altered its course to the northwest, moving away from the Mediterranean and possibly heading toward Greenland or Iceland.

US officials said the Coast Guard attempted to stop the Bella 1 in the Caribbean after concluding it was not flying a valid national flag, which made it eligible for boarding under international law, but the vessel failed to comply and kept sailing, according to the report.

The officials have not publicly said why the Coast Guard has delayed boarding the tanker, which is incapable of evading American ships.

Officials said they secured a seizure warrant tied to the vessel’s earlier role in the Iranian oil trade. The Bella 1 is considered part of a so-called “ghost fleet” of tankers that transport oil from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela in defiance of US and international sanctions, and most of its crew are from Russia, India, and Ukraine, according to one official, per the report.

The US Treasury Department on Tuesday rolled out new sanctions on 10 individuals and entities based in Venezuela and Iran, accusing them of involvement in Tehran’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program and weapons proliferation activities.