US Forces Seize Oil Tanker Accused of Sanctions Evasion and Location Spoofing
US forces seized an oil tanker identified as the Skipper on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, near the coast of Venezuela. The vessel reportedly had a history of concealing or falsifying its location information. US Attorney General Pam Bondi stated the vessel was a "crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran." The US Treasury Department first sanctioned the ship in 2022 under its previous name, Adisa, citing its alleged involvement in an "international oil smuggling network."
Vessel Identification and Flag Status
BBC Verify confirmed the ship's identity as the Skipper through footage released by the US, matching a visible sign to a reference photo from TankerTrackers.com. Although the Skipper sailed under the flag of Guyana, the Guyanese government issued a statement clarifying that the 20-year-old tanker was "falsely flying the Guyana Flag" as it was not registered in Guyana. Maritime experts have suggested the Skipper operated as part of the "dark fleet," a network of tankers reportedly obscuring ownership, identities, and travel histories to evade oil sanctions.
Location Concealment and Spoofing
All ships above a specific tonnage are required by UN treaty to operate an Automatic Identification System (AIS) to broadcast their location. However, public tracking data for the Skipper provided an incomplete and inconsistent record of its movements. According to MarineTraffic, the Skipper's last declared port call before its seizure was Soroosh, Iran, on July 9, following stops in Iraq and the UAE.
Maritime analytics firm Kpler indicated a pattern of misleading entries by the Skipper. Kpler analysts reported that the ship had previously loaded crude oil from Venezuela and Iran while allegedly falsifying its position via its AIS, a practice known as spoofing. Venezuela's oil exports have been under US sanctions since 2019.
Reported Movements and Cargo Transfers
Kpler noted that while the Skipper's AIS showed it at Iraq's Basrah Oil Terminal on July 7 and 8, terminal reports did not corroborate its presence. Instead, Kpler stated the Skipper loaded crude oil at Kharg Island in Iran.
Tracking data then showed the Skipper sailing east, where Kpler suggested it conducted a ship-to-ship transfer between August 11 and 13. The cargo was subsequently unloaded in China, where Kpler reported it was "falsely declared."
The vessel returned via Iran and sailed towards the Caribbean. The Skipper's AIS last declared its position on November 7, off the coast of Guyana, and reappeared on December 10, after the US raid.
Interim Period and Sanctions Evasion
During the period of no public AIS broadcast, satellite images identified by TankerTrackers.com and confirmed by BBC Verify showed the Skipper present in the Port of Jose in Venezuela on November 18. Analysts stated that concealing or spoofing positions while loading oil in Venezuela has become a common practice since the imposition of sanctions.
Kpler analysts reported that the ship loaded "at least 1.1 million barrels of Merey crude" by November 16 at the terminal, with Cuba listed as the destination.
Evidence also suggested the Skipper was involved in another ship-to-ship transfer on December 7, days before the US boarding. Satellite images observed by Kpler reportedly showed this exchange near the city of Barcelona, off the Venezuelan coast.
Frederik Van Lokeren, a former Belgian naval lieutenant and analyst, noted that while ship-to-ship transfers are not inherently illegal, they are "extremely uncommon" and often signal attempts to evade sanctions by transferring oil to vessels not publicly linked to smuggling operations. Venezuela's refining capacity has reportedly diminished, leading to a reliance on allies such as Iran and Russia for converting crude oil.