The global shadow economy behind Trump’s latest move on Venezuela

Following this week’s seizure of a sanctioned ship off the coast of Venezuela, the Trump administration says it will be targeting more oil tankers off the Venezuelan coast. - Joshua Keating

But it’s also the latest salvo in a campaign by Western governments to crack down on the so-called shadow fleet that has allowed countries like Venezuela, Russia, and Iran to continue participating in the global oil trade, despite international sanctions...
As Vox reported last year, the shadow fleet has been operating for years. 

• Shadow fleet vessels tend to have opaque ownership; the nominal owner is often little more than a PO Box in the Seychelles or Dubai. 
• The ships operate without standard insurance, are often older and less well-maintained than their above-board counterparts, and frequently manipulate their transponders and navigation system to avoid detection. 
• They frequently change names and what country’s flag they sail under...

Case in point, the vessel seized by the US this week was sailing under the name Skipper and the flag of Guyana — but it had been sanctioned by the Biden administration in 2022 when it was known as the Adisa and flew the flag of Panama. 

• As the Washington Post reported, the ship allegedly made several trips in and out of Iran last year along with stops in China and Syria, but it frequently turned off its data location transmission to prevent tracking...