U.S. Seizes ‘Dark Fleet’ Supertanker With History of Oil Smuggling Off Venezuelan Coast

Latest Developments

Vessel Involved in Illicit Oil Shipping: President Donald Trump announced on December 10 that the United States had seized a “very large” oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that the crude oil tanker had previously transported sanctioned oil from Iran and Venezuela and that the vessel itself had been “sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.” According to Bondi, the seizure was conducted in collaboration with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Coast Guard, with support from the Department of Defense.
Vessel Previously Sanctioned for Supporting Terrorists: While Trump and Bondi did not provide further details, maritime tracking firms identified the tanker as the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Skipper. The Skipper was reportedly loaded with at least 1.1 million barrels of sanctioned Merey crude and had been “transmitting falsified AIS (Automatic Identification System) positions to conceal its location.” Separately, Guyana’s maritime authority reported that the ship was falsely flying the Guyanese flag and was not registered in the country. The vessel, formerly called Adisa, was sanctioned by the United States in November 2022 for involvement in an oil smuggling network supporting the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.
Vessel Sought To Evade Tracking: In November, the Skipper’s AIS showed that the ship was positioned near the coast of Guyana when satellite images placed it at Venezuela’s Jose Terminal. According to MarineTraffic.com, this was the result of “deliberate AIS manipulation.” In July, the ship’s AIS showed it at Iraq’s Basra Oil Terminal, but the terminal has no records of the vessel’s presence. Instead, the ship was loaded with crude at Kharg Island in Iran. In August, the ship reportedly conducted a ship-to-ship transfer of oil — often a sign of attempts to evade sanctions — which was later unloaded in China. Days before it was seized, the Skipper conducted a ship-to-ship transfer near Curacao to the Panama-flagged ship Neptune 6.

FDD Expert Response

“The confiscation of a ghost fleet tanker sends an important message to other operators: the risk of conducting business with Venezuela has significantly increased. It is critical that Washington confiscate more tankers to affirm that this was not a one-off operation.” — Saeed Ghasseminejad, Senior Iran and Financial Economics Advisor

“Illicit petroleum exports are one of the main sources of revenue keeping Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime afloat, to the benefit of buyers in China and Cuba. This seizure struck an important blow against both Maduro and the regime of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and should be followed by a comprehensive campaign to reduce Venezuela’s ability to evade U.S. sanctions. The tanker’s ties to Iran are also a timely reminder that the same networks facilitating Iranian sanctions evasion also support Venezuela.” — Connor Pfeiffer, Senior Director of Government Relations