Vernal

On Dec 14 the Palau flagged tanker 'Valente' (IMO: 9298272) was moored alongside the 'Liberty' at around 11.10 SST probably for an STS transfer of the about one million barrel of Venezuelan oil. Actually the tug 'Hemingway 3200' (MMSDI: 525900307) and 'Kt. Hang Tuah VI' (MMSI: 525300109) were nearby, and the 'Valente' anchored in pos. 01° 10.09' N 103° 19.73' E.

Oil spill booms have been deployed around the 'Liberty' as a precaution, while the cargo is getting removed. The tanker had falsified its location back in October, telling digital tracking systems that it was off the coast of west Africa when in reality it was collecting Venezuelan oil. The ship sails under the flag of Cameroon, a nation deemed “very high risk” by authorities. A so-called dark fleet of tankers like the 'Liberty' has ballooned since as Moscow sought ships that could help it to dodge western sanctions. Those ships have brought environmental risks into focus because details about who owns and insures them is often unclear. Industry databases don’t provide a beneficial owner for the ship, but a firm called Skyward Management Corp., with an address in Kazakhstan, is listed as its technical manager. A call to a phone number for Skyward said the number was locked.

Indonesian rescue teams managed to refloat the 'Liberty' in the Singapore Strait west of Batam on Dec 8, which was carrying nearly 1 million barrels of Venezuelan fuel oil. A total of five tugs were used to move the ship from its position. The ship is not moving at the moment, suggesting it is being assessed for repairs. Southeast Asia – a major crossroads for international tanker trades – has seen its fair share of dark fleet mishaps recently. The 26-year-old 'Turba', also flagged in Cameroon, lost power and was adrift off Indonesia for a number of days in October. There was also the explosion of the 'Pablo' in May in Malaysian waters and the grounding of the VLCC 'Young Yang' in 2022. There were at least eight groundings, collisions or near misses involving tankers carrying sanctioned oil products in 2022 – the same number as in the previous three years. Tankers still working above 20 years of age made up just 1% of the global tanker fleet pre-covid and were still a rarity at 3% before the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. They’re now on track to make up 11% of all tanker demand by mid-2025. Tankers operating in opaque markets reached a record high in Q2 and have since declined.