An ABC News analysis of satellite images and tracking data shows that the oil tanker seized by the United States off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday may have manipulated its location data, an apparent attempt, experts say, to circumvent restrictions imposed by sanctions.
The crude oil tanker, dubbed “The Skipper” according to four people familiar with the operation, was sanctioned by the United States in 2022.
Digital transmission signals emitted by the ship’s transponder and tracked by analytics firm Kpler placed the Skipper near the coast of Guyana between November and December. However, more than a dozen satellite images verified by ABC News confirmed that Skipper was operating in waters off the coast of Barcelona, Venezuela, about 550 miles away during this same period.
More than a dozen satellite images show The Skipper off the coast of Barcelona, Venezuela, from October 30 to December 4, 2025.
TankerTrackers.com/Copernicus Sentinel/Felt Maps
Citing a “pattern of deliberate obfuscation,” Dimitris Ampatzidis, senior risk and compliance manager at Kpler, told ABC News that the “allegedly falsified signals” indicate “a broader pattern of sanctions evasion logistics.”
Satellite images captured by two providers appear to show the Skipper loading barrels of crude oil at Venezuela’s José oil terminal on November 14, followed by a third sighting there by Planet Labs on November 18.
A satellite image shows the Skipper at the José oil terminal off the coast of Barcelona, Venezuela, on November 14, 2025.
Planeta PBC Laboratories
An image taken by TankerTrackers.com, an organization that monitors global oil shipping, also shows the Skipper at the Jose oil terminal in a similar time period.
Satellite images continuously captured the Skipper off the coast of Barcelona between October 30 and December 4, as its signal was allegedly being spoofed.
A photo of the Skipper off the coast of Barcelona, Venezuela, around November 2025.
TankerTrackers.com
In a statement to ABC News, Kpler analyst Matt Smith confirmed in mid-November that the vessel “covertly” loaded “1.1 million barrels of Merey heavy sour crude oil” without its transponder turned on.
Smith noted that the Captain had previously engaged in what he called “dark activity,” referring to ships operating without their transponder turned on.
The Pattern’s route throughout the year 2025 according to its transponder data.
Marine Traffic/Felt Maps/TankerTrackers.com
In an extensive analysis of satellite imagery from February 2025, TankerTrackers.com identified the Skipper’s movements off the coasts of Iran and China from March to September.
The site estimates that the Skipper transported 1.87 million barrels of oil from Iran to China in February of this year, and another 1.95 million barrels again from Iran to China in July of this year.
The tanker was spotted off the coast of Madagascar in October, before crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
It was seen again north of Trinidad and approaching Venezuela on October 29, before spending more than a month off the coast of Barcelona.
Satellite images show the Skipper as it headed from Asia toward Venezuela.
TankerTrackers.com/Copernicus Sentinel/Felt Maps
According to data from MarineTraffic, a vessel tracking platform owned by Kpler, the registered owner of the Skipper is Triton Navigation Corporation; Its beneficial owner is listed as Thomarose Global Ventures. Triton Navigation, along with the Skipper, then known as Adisa, was subject to US sanctions in 2022 for alleged links to Hezbollah and the Qods Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Kerem Inal of ABC News contributed to this report.
