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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Notes from Grok on recent tanker seizure. |
| 2025-12-11 |
— cheaprentalyeti (@cheaprentalyeti) December 10, 2025 Grok Conversation See new posts Grok, according to news reports the US seizen an oil tanker near Venezuela today. Can you tell me who owns the tanker and what it's been shipping for the past couple of years? Thoughts According to recent reports, the U.S. seized the oil tanker named Skipper (IMO 9304667) off the Venezuelan coast on December 10, 2025, in an operation involving the Coast Guard, as it was en route to Cuba after loading cargo at Venezuela's José port between December 4 and 5. politico.com +2 This very large crude carrier (VLCC), built in 2005 with a deadweight tonnage of about 310,000 metric tons, flies the flag of Guyana and has undergone several name changes, including Adisa (from around March 2021), Maera (until 2019), and Toyo earlier. vesselfinder.com The vessel is controlled by Russian national Viktor Artemov through a front company called Petro Naviero (in which he holds a 50% stake), according to U.S. Treasury designations. iranintl.com Artemov's network has been sanctioned since at least 2022 for facilitating illegal Iranian oil transports on behalf of groups like Hezbollah and Iran's IRGC-Quds Force. home.treasury.gov Over the past couple of years, the Skipper (under its previous name Adisa until recently) has primarily been involved in shipping sanctioned Iranian crude oil as part of the so-called "shadow fleet." For instance, in April 2024, it completed its first known voyage delivering Iranian oil to Syria. unitedagainstnucleariran.com Tracking data shows it spent much of 2025 anchored off Khor al Fakkan in the UAE for extended periods (e.g., June 30 to July 2, July 3-4, July 26, and August 21 to September 1), likely awaiting cargos or evading detection, before departing on September 19. vesselfinder.com Its most recent cargo was Venezuelan Merey heavy crude, loaded for delivery to Cuba, aligning with patterns of transporting oil from sanctioned nations like Iran and Venezuela to destinations such as Syria or allied countries. cbc.ca +1 Detailed voyage logs beyond these are limited due to the vessel often operating with AIS transponders off or under deceptive practices common to shadow fleets. |
| Posted by:Thing From Snowy Mountain |
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| Posted by: trailing wife 2025-12-11 19:47 |
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