The US has seized a vessel near Venezuela amid increasing tensions between Washington and Caracas. The Skipper, a Very Large Crude Carrier) VLCC, with a deadweight of 310309 tonnes was built in 2005. The Skipper has been under U.S. Treasury Department sanctions since 2022.
The vessel was last recorded by Wood Mackenzie loading at José’s East Berth in the middle of November, carrying approximately 1.1mn bbls of Merey crude with an orignal desintaiotn of Matanzas, Cuba. Although the vessel's orginal destination was Cuba, the cargo was yet to discharge, with shipments often continuing to Asian ports.
The vessel was reportedly chartered by Cubametales, a state-run Cuban entity. Prior to the loading in Venezuela, the Skipper's last recorded port call in VesselTracker was in Iran at the crude terminal on Larak Island on October 7.
Wood Mackenzie tracking also showed Venezuela exported around 900,000 barrels per day in October this year, underscoring the country’s ongoing crude flows despite sanctions.
