Vessels Change Names, Go Dark to Ship Venezuelan Oil to Cuba - Bloomberg
▻https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-08/vessels-change-names-go-dark-to-ship-venezuelan-crude-to-cuba
Esperanza turns off signal to conceal delivery of Venezuelan oil to Cuba
• Oil tanker Nedas sailed incognito for 42 days in April-May
• U.S. continues to target shipments between the two countries
Stopping the flow of Venezuelan oil to its ally Cuba might prove harder than the U.S. expected.
Tankers are being renamed and vessels are switching off their transponders to sail under the radar of the U.S. government. The vessel Ocean Elegance, an oil tanker that has been delivering Venezuelan crude to Cuba for the past three years, was renamed Oceano after being sanctioned in May. The ship S-Trotter, another one that’s on the sanctions list, is now known as Tropic Sea, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The oil tanker Nedas, after being sanctioned in April, made a delivery to Cuba incognito because it turned off its satellite tracking system. It went unaccounted for 42 days, but shipping reports show that it delivered oil to Cuba. After the ghost delivery, it discreetly changed its name to Esperanza. The Nedas/Esperanza has delivered 2 million barrels of crude to Cuba this year, according to shipping reports.
Halting the flow between the two countries may prove difficult. There are over 4,500 crude oil tankers in operation globally, and state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela SA also uses oil products vessels, adding to the complexity of the task.
Nevertheless, the U.S. continues to target shipments between the two countries and aims to close loopholes in sanctions, according to a senior U.S. administration official. The goal is to surgically and methodically cut off funds to the regime of President Nicolas Maduro.