Seized oil tanker Skipper hid location, visited Iran, Venezuela
Captain port calls in 2025
Maritime Traffic
The large crude oil tanker that US forces seized off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday from 2024 showed a “clear pattern” of spoofing its location to conceal its actual whereabouts, according to a leading energy consultancy.
The data shows that the Guyanese-flagged tanker identified as Skipper has been carrying sanctioned oil from Iran and Venezuela since 2022.
Both countries’ oil industries are under US sanctions, and Skipper is also under US sanctions. Foreign Assets Control Office Since 2022.
Matt Smith, chief US analyst for the consulting firm Kpler He said Skipper was secretly loaded with 1.1 million barrels of oil in mid-November.
Smith said the ship appeared to be headed for Cuba, although it had been stopped off the coast of Venezuela since it was loaded.
According to Kpler data, over the last two years, there was a total of more than 80 days of evidence of Skipper allegedly committing AIS spoofing to hide its location.
AIS or automatic identification systemThe data provides real-time information about a ship’s location and includes the ship’s name, course, speed, classification, call sign and registration number, according to the U.S. Coast Guard’s website.
According to Kpler data, during the time the Skipper’s true location was hidden in the AIS network, numerous ship-to-ship cargo transfers took place.
Dimitris Ampatzidis, Kpler’s risk and compliance manager, said Skipper “demonstrated a clear pattern of deceptive operations that goes well beyond what the AIS transmissions claim.”
The satellite image shows the very large crude oil carrier (VLCC) Skipper, which British maritime risk management group Vanguard believes was seized on December 10, and another ship off Venezuela’s Port of Jose on November 18, 2025.
Planet Labs | Reuters
According to Kpler, three AIS frauds were recorded by Skipper in 2024 in Egypt, Iran, the Mediterranean, Ghana and Nigeria.
“Fake positions have been published, particularly through extended AIS fraud events,” Ampatzidis said. “Skipper engaged in activities completely inconsistent with its declared voyage, including sanctioned shipments in Iran and Venezuela.
“These behaviors form a coherent picture: a ship deliberately designed to operate outside of transparency, using digital manipulation and covert logistics, masking sanctioned crude oil flows under the guise of normal maritime traffic,” Ampatzidis said. he said.
According to Kpler data, port visit data for 2025 shows that Skipper carries oil from the ports of Jose in Venezuela and Kharg Island in Iran.
Port calls for Skipper in 2024 included Port of Banias in Syria and Kharg Island in Iran. And in 2023, Skipper visited Port Jose in Venezuela.
According to Kpler data, the Skipper is owned by Triton Navigation Corp., based in the Marshall Islands, and the cargo owner, ship manager and operator is Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd., based in Nigeria.
Triton Navigation has been on the OFAC sanctions list since November 2022.
“I believe the purpose of seizing a sanctioned oil tanker is to make oil buyers and tanker owners operating in the shadow fleet wary of loading Venezuelan crude, reducing the revenues of the Maduro government and ultimately accelerating its exit,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
“Given that oil prices are hovering below $60 a barrel, it appears the administration is not overly concerned about losing Venezuelan oil supplies to the market; there is plenty of oil around,” Lipow said.
“China, on the other hand, would be unhappy to lose access to vastly discounted oil supplies.”
The seizure comes as President Donald Trump increases pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump said Maduro’s “days are numbered.”
