https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-oil-trump-sanctions-maduro-a2ef5b45b48365861e0a724d8c27dce3

The U.S. sanctioned the Skipper in November 2022, when it was known as the M/T Adisa, for its alleged role in a network of dark vessels smuggling crude on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. The network was reportedly run by a Switzerland-based Ukrainian oil trader who was also sanctioned, the U.S. Treasury Department said at the time.

In recent months, the ship has sailed to China with a cargo of Iranian oil, and it has also been linked to illicit cargoes from Russia, according to Windward. At the time of its seizure, Windward reported, the tanker was digitally manipulating its tracking signals to falsely indicate it was sailing off the coast of Guyana, which shares a border with Venezuela, and adjacent to a massive offshore oil field being developed by Exxon with strong U.S. support. It has also been falsely flying the Guyana flag, according to international ship registries, a major violation of maritime rules.