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After the United States seized a tanker carrying Venezuelan crude, the shadowy fleet of “ghost ships” used to evade sanctions drifted squarely toward the president. that of Donald Trump reticle.
On December 10, Trump announced the seizure of the “Skipper,” a ship secretly transporting oil in defiance of sanctions.
The largest fleet, a clandestine armada of about 1,000 tankers, quietly navigates global shipping routes transporting oil from sanctioned countries like Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
US set to seize tens of millions in Venezuelan oil after tanker intercepted, White House says
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the United States would keep the oil from the tanker seized off the coast of Venezuela. (Planter Labs/PBC/handout via Reuters)
So-called “ghost ships” sail under foreign flags to disguise their origins, change their names repeatedly, transfer ownership to front companies, disable transponders to evade tracking, and make transfers on the open sea to hide their cargo.
The result is a labyrinthine system of transfers and disguised trips.
US-Venezuela clash could send gas prices through the roof in the long term
Benjamin Jensen, who directs the Futures Lab at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the challenge extends well beyond Venezuela.
“I think it’s time for the United States and other countries to start tackling what is really a global problem,” said Benjamin Jensen, director of the Futures Lab at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Jensen said the seizure came as a shock not only to Caracas but also to other stakeholders.
“What we don’t know is how they’re tracking this behind the scenes,” he said, adding that new seizures under Trump are possible.
A view of the tanker “Eventin” off the German island of Rügen. The ship previously carried crude oil from Russia. (Stefan Sauer/photo alliance via Getty Images)
With Venezuela’s economy almost entirely dependent on oil revenues, he stressed that even a single ban can have an outsized impact.
“Anything you do that puts pressure on their ability to circumvent sanctions and oil trade is a direct threat to the economy and, by extension, to the regime,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has signaled that the seizure of the “Skipper” is just the opening salvo in a new effort to cut off the oil revenues that keep Moscow, Tehran and Caracas afloat.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said Thursday that the vessel was “subject to confiscation proceedings.”
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“At this time, the United States has a full investigation team on the ground, on the vessel and individuals on board the vessel are being questioned, and all relevant evidence is being seized,” Leavitt said, adding that the United States would take possession of the oil once the legal process is complete.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The move comes as China continues to be the top importer of Iranian oil and the second-largest buyer of Russian crude, much of which is shipped via a growing fleet of nondescript tankers that evade U.S. sanctions.
Earlier this year, the 19-year-old tanker named “Eventin” was seized by German authorities after the vessel suffered an engine failure in the Baltic Sea. The vessel had previously been identified as a vessel exporting Russian crude oil and other petroleum products.
German authorities discovered that the Panama-flagged ship, previously named Charvi and Storviken, was carrying 99,000 tons, worth about $45 million, of Russian oil.
