THE captain and first officer of the Russian-flagged oil tanker hijacked by US forces have left British waters just hours after Scotland’s highest court issued an order preventing their removal.

The Marinera, previously known as Bella 1, had been chased across the Atlantic by US coastguard after it approached their blockade of Venezuela, eventually being seized in international waters between Iceland and Scotland with the assistance of British military and taken to the Moray Firth.

For weeks, the crew’s fate had been unknown, and on Monday, lawyers acting on behalf of Natia Dzadzama — wife of the Georgian captain of the tanker, Avtandil Kalandadze — petitioned the Court of Session in Edinburgh for a judicial review into his “unlawful” detention, with papers served on the Lord Advocate, the UK government’s advocate general, Scottish ministers, and US President Donald Trump.

That evening, Lord Young granted an interim interdict prohibiting the respondents from removing the captain and crew from the court’s jurisdiction, but on Tuesday, Solicitor General Ruth Charteris KC, representing the lord advocate and Scottish ministers, told the court: “The captain and the first officer are now aboard the US coastguard vessel Munro and have departed the United Kingdom’s territorial sea.

“In short they are no longer within the territorial jurisdiction of this court.”

Clare Mitchell KC, representing Ms Dzadzama, described the situation in court as “highly unsatisfactory,” and after the hearing, her solicitor Aamer Anwar, said: “Whilst President Trump may have no regard for international law, the UK authorities have been complicit in the US’s total disregard for the rule of law and international obligations with its closest ally.

“There has been a shameful silence from our PM.”

Arguing it was “implausible” that the removals could have taken place without the knowledge or co-operation of UK and Scottish governments, he added: “Our client’s judicial review can no longer be enforced now her husband has in essence been abducted by the US government on Scottish and British territory.

“The United States has no lawful authority to arrest or detain individuals within Scotland. 

“The captain and first officer have been denied their most basic rights, including access to the courts, in full view of the authorities charged with upholding the rule of law.

“It should not fall to the wife of a detained captain to compel scrutiny of this international scandal.”