What We Know About the ‘Ghost Ship’ Seized by the U.S. off the Coast of Venezuela

The massive oil tanker seized by U.S. forces off the coast of Venezuela has been part of a clandestine fleet for several years and was already known to American authorities for its role in the Iranian oil trade.

The Skipper was targeted by U.S. sanctions in 2022 for “illicit oil shipments” linked to Iran, under its former name, Adisa. The vessel displays the typical characteristics of the shadow fleet: it sails under a fake Guyanese flag, has opaque ownership, and is of advanced age—an age at which ships are usually destined for scrapyards in South Asia, not crude export terminals.

Earlier this year, the Skipper facilitated two ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian crude bound for China, before reappearing this month to load Venezuelan oil, according to tracking data compiled by Kpler and Vortexa. This is its first confirmed voyage to Venezuela since 2023.

The Skipper’s listed owner, Triton Navigation Corp., in the Equasis database, and its manager, Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd., both based in Nigeria, did not respond to requests for comment.

A VLCC has a capacity of up to 2 million barrels, and most of the crude loaded onto the vessel was likely Merey, according to tracking data. This type of oil is frequently used to produce bitumen and is exported mainly to China.

In total, the shadow fleet supporting crude exports from Venezuela, Iran, and Russia consists of roughly 978 vessels—around 19% of the global tanker fleet—according to estimates published by S&P Global in September.

Image generated by Artificial Intelligence

Source: Valor Econômico

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