On Wednesday, the U.S. military seized an oil tanker named The Skipper off the coast of Venezuela.
Here’s what we know about this ship:
The captain, formerly known as the Adisa, was sanctioned by the United States in 2022 for facilitating oil deals between Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force.
The ship was heading to Cuba with Venezuelan crude oil. The shipments were routed through Cuban distributors before ending up in Asia, a senior U.S. official said.
On November 18, the Skipper was seen anchored about 11 miles from the Venezuelan coastal city of Barcelona, according to satellite images provided by Planet Labs. At the same time, however, the ship’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder indicated it was located approximately 560 miles away, off the coast of Georgetown, Guyana.
Analysts say oil tankers sometimes “disguise” their AIS locations to hide suspicious or illegal activity.
The country’s Maritime Authority said in a statement posted on Facebook that the tanker was flying the Guyanese flag even though it is not registered in Guyana.
According to ship data, the skipper made ports in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong before arriving in Venezuela. It appears to have wandered within 25 miles of Iran’s coast for several days in early July.
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