U.S. Likely to Seize Venezuelan Oil from Iranian Tanker SKIPPER

The United States is likely to seize Venezuelan oil from the recently detained tanker SKIPPER.

TankerTrackers reported on this.

According to the report, the vessel is currently in a discharge area near the port city of Galveston, Texas.

The oil is expected to be transferred to smaller tankers and then delivered, for example, to refinery terminals in Houston.

The tanker was detained on December 11. Washington had previously placed the vessel on its sanctions list for involvement in the trade of Iranian oil.

The ship left the Venezuela’s main oil port, José, between December 4 and 5 after loading approximately 1.8 million barrels of heavy Merey crude oil.

This is the first known seizure of such a vessel since the Trump administration began a large-scale military buildup near Venezuela.

The tanker was registered in Panama, sailed under a false Guyanese flag (effectively making it stateless), and was owned by Triton Navigation Corp in the Marshall Islands.

Meanwhile, this company is controlled by a Singapore-based shell company, managed by a Nigerian firm, and ultimately owned or controlled by Viktor Artemov, a Ukrainian citizen living in Switzerland.

He is said to operate a so-called ‘shadow fleet’ of tankers, including vessels used to transport Iranian oil.

The tanker previously sailed under the names Adisa and The Toyo.

It was recently reported that the United States has already seized a third tanker that was heading to Venezuela to load petroleum products.