The United States is planning to remove the captain and first officer of a Russian-flagged oil tanker from UK waters “imminently”, a court has heard.

The Americans seized the vessel, the Marinera, on 7 January south of Iceland before sailing it to the coast of Moray, east of Inverness.

In a late-night virtual hearing of the Court of Session Lord Young rejected a request by lawyers for the captain’s wife to stop the US removing her husband from Scottish jurisdiction.

The judge said the 1978 State Immunity Act meant he did not appear to have the power to make such an order against a foreign government.

Natia Dzadzama’s lawyers had argued that her husband, Avtandil Kalandadze, who is of Georgian nationality, should be protected by the Scottish courts and European human rights law.

Claire Mitchell, KC, for Dzadzama, said a “flurry of action” suggested the Americans were preparing to move the captain and first officer.

She told the court: “They haven’t had access to solicitors. They haven’t had access to the outer world save for one message the captain was able to pass through to a third party.

“And we have concerns that if we don’t have this interim interdict granted this evening that they may be removed from the jurisdiction.”

Counsel for the UK government, Chris Pirie KC, said it was his understanding that 26 crew members had been brought ashore from the Marinera but that Kalandadze “has been transferred to a US Coast Guard vessel and that vessel is planning to depart imminently.”

The Scottish government’s lawyer, Dominic Scullion, said the captain and first officer may in fact already have left UK territorial waters although he added that he was “not sure”.

The court heard conflicting reports about the whereabouts in Scotland of other crew members and whether or not they were in the custody of immigration officials.

Mitchell told the court it was her understanding that they had been taken from the ship to Aberdeen Airport where they had been held under the 1971 Immigration Act.

But the hearing in Edinburgh also heard a suggestion that the crew members may be in Inverness.

Mitchell argued that the US government was attempting to bypass established extradition processes to take the captain to the US.

“The Americans have brought people to Scotland and that has made them subject to the jurisdiction of the Scottish courts. All that I’m asking for is for these people not to be moved,” she said.

“All that we are asking this court to do today, is to grant an interim order to ensure that the rights of these people who have been brought to Scotland, are not violated,” added Mitchell.

Lord Young did grant a limited interdict instructing the UK and Scottish governments, or anyone acting on their behalf, not to remove the captain and the crew of the Marinera until the court could further consider the case.

The tanker, formerly known as the Bella 1, was last spotted off Burghead at the weekend.

Washington has accused the vessel of breaching sanctions by carrying oil for Venezuela, Russia and Iran.

Earlier, in a statement issued by her solicitor, Aamer Anwar, Dzadzama said she believed it cannot be right “in a civilised society to abduct a whole crew in Scotland and, with assistance from the UK authorities, remove them without observing our laws.”

The UK government backed the operation to seize the tanker, saying it was lawful action against a vessel involved in breaking sanctions.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) provided operational support and US planes used UK airfields, including some in Scotland.

But Moscow denounced the seizure, demanding that the US treat Russians aboard properly and allow them to return to Russia quickly.

The Russian transport ministry said it had given the vessel “temporary permission” to use the Russian flag, adding that no state had the right to use force against vessels properly registered in other states’ jurisdictions.

Lawyer Aamer Anwar earlier said papers were being served on the lord advocate, the advocate general – who acts for the UK government – Scottish ministers and US President Donald Trump, who is commander in chief of the United States Military.

He added: “President Trump recently stated ‘I don’t need international law’ – but we submit that the USA must abide by international treaties and laws.”

The Glasgow-based human rights lawyer said that the US had previously respected these laws and had worked closely with Scottish authorities following the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

First Minister John Swinney previously said he was “deeply concerned” to learn from media reports that the tanker was in the Moray Firth.

He said he would have expected to have been told in advance about steps to accommodate the ship in the firth.

However, last week Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said he wrote to the SNP leader to offer him a meeting, but he did not accept.

Swinney claimed the “the flow of communication” between the Scottish and UK governments during the Marinera incident had been “absolutely appalling”.

He said it was “incredibly difficult” to engage the UK government on “significant” security issues.

The SNP leader said he had asked the prime minister for a “detailed briefing” about the Marinera, and added that law officers in Scotland had a clear responsibility for tankers in Scottish waters.

He told reporters: “I got a reply from Douglas Alexander which basically told me that this whole issue was none of my business.

“So if that’s what Mr Alexander is suggesting, is an invitation to dialogue, I suggest he goes and redrafts his letters before he sends them to me.”

The UK government previously said that the tanker had entered UK waters to take on fresh supplies.

It is understood US military aircraft landed at small civilian airports in Wick, Caithness, and Benbecula in the Western Isles during the operation on 7 January.

At the time the MoD confirmed that the Royal Navy tanker RFA Tideforce and RAF surveillance aircraft were supporting American personnel and that “deterring, disrupting and degrading” Russia’s “shadow fleet” was a priority.

The Marinera has been in the firth off Burghead, a village on the Moray coast.

The Moray Firth is a sheltered area of sea between the east Highland coast and the coasts of Moray and Aberdeenshire.