REFILE-Russia says US seizure of oil tanker violates maritime law

MOSCOW, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday that the U.S. seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the Atlantic was a violation of maritime law.

"In accordance with the 1982 U.N. 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 transport ministry said in a statement.

It said contact with the vessel, the Marinera, had been lost after U.S. naval forces boarded it.