Image: M/T Skipper, Screenshot Marinetraffic.com
What’s new:
- The oil tanker seized by the U.S. that was carrying sanctioned Venezuelan oil had been transmitting incorrect location information, undoubtedly to conceal its activities, for some time.
- The seizure operation was a textbook and flawless example of how maritime law enforcement is done.
Why it’s important: Transmitting false location info is:
- Almost certainly an indicator of malicious activity.
- Always a violation of ITU regulations.
- In maritime, a violation of IMO requirements and the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention.
- Generally unsafe as it can lead (and has led) to collision, groundings, fire, injuries. And it could lead to fatalities.
What else to know:
- None of the above reasons were sufficient legal justification to seize the vessel.
- The seizure was made because the ship was smuggling oil subject to sanctions under a UN Security Council Resolution.
- The operation was a textbook multi-agency Caribbean law enforcement operation.
- It was carefully considered and planned by all relevant federal departments using the expeditious Maritime Operational Threat Response process.
- Department of Defense helicopters were used to fast rope a U.S. Coast Guard a tactical law enforcement team to the ship.
- The ship was quickly taken and secured without any injuries to the team or ship’s crew.
- The crew were taken in custody for questioning to gather intelligence that will inform future law enforcement efforts.
- The NYT article below provides some of the above information. We also drew on our experience and contacts in the maritime law enforcement community, confirmed by ADM Stavridis (USN ret) in The Hill article below.
Oil Tanker U.S. Seized Has Faked Its Location Before, Data Shows
The ship has frequently carried oil from countries under U.S. sanctions, and its tracking data shows multiple recent trips to Iran and Venezuela.
The oil tanker seized by the United States off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday may have been trying to conceal its whereabouts by broadcasting falsified location data, according to a New York Times analysis of satellite imagery and photographs.
Former NATO commander: Venezuela oil tanker seizure ‘legal’ and ‘flawless’
Retired Adm. James Stavridis, former NATO allied supreme commander, touted the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as a “legal” operation that was perfectly executed.
In an interview on “CNN News Central,” Stavridis praised the Coast Guard for conducting the operation without a single casualty and said the seizure was a law enforcement effort, noting the tanker was full of “illegal oil.”
“This is the U.S. Coast Guard. This is not Navy SEALs. These are the people that rescue you when you’re a boater on Memorial Day. Here they are dropping out of a helicopter and taking down this ship and, oh, by the way, from everything I can see, this operation was flawless,” Stavridis said.
