logo
Zombie Ships Are Fast Becoming a Feature of Venezuelan Oil Trade

Zombie Ships Are Fast Becoming a Feature of Venezuelan Oil Trade

Yahoo29-04-2025

(Bloomberg) -- On Good Friday, an aging supertanker fully laden with oil and calling itself Varada arrived in the waters to the east of Malaysia after a two-month voyage from Venezuela.
New York City Transit System Chips Away at Subway Fare Evasion
NYC's Congestion Toll Raised $159 Million in the First Quarter
Newsom Says California Is Now the World's Fourth-Biggest Economy
The Last Thing US Transit Agencies Should Do Now
At Bryn Mawr, a Monumental Plaza Traces the Steps of Black History
The vessel raised some red flags: it was 32 years old, past the age at which it would normally have been scrapped, and it was sailing under the flag of Comoros, a popular flag of convenience that makes ships harder to monitor.
For all intents and purposes, though, it seemed like any other so-called dark fleet tanker that carries barrels of sometimes sanctioned oil from producers like Russia, Iran and Venezuela. Except it wasn't.
The real Varada, which wasn't sanctioned, had actually been demolished in Bangladesh in 2017. This vessel was what's known as a zombie or phantom ship, which take on the identities of scrapped tankers to appear legitimate and avoid scrutiny from authorities in the US and elsewhere.
At least four zombie vessels have emerged in recent weeks in the sensitive Venezuelan oil trade, which has become even more risky since the Trump administration imposed tariffs on countries importing oil from the South American nation.
Bloomberg News has used ship-tracking data provided by Starboard Maritime Intelligence and analyzed satellite imagery of the waters off the José and Amuay oil export terminals in Venezuela to identify the four vessels.
The images were compared against historical photos of the four ships whose names and unique International Maritime Organization numbers they have usurped. In each case there were major discrepancies between the zombie ships and their scrapped namesakes, including deck shapes, layouts and colors. The four demolished vessels hadn't been sanctioned by any government.
The use of zombie tankers allows dark fleet operators to circumvent restrictions on transporting oil. Bloomberg first reported on a zombie ship that showed up at a Chinese port last September, and in November detailed the return of a supposedly scrapped dark-fleet tanker. The ruse is gaining attention within the maritime community, which has long tracked the emergence of a parallel system, including operators, insurers, traders and banks, that supports the dark fleet.
Using zombie ships to transport sanctioned oil is part of a growing trend in the illicit trade in the face or tighter scrutiny. As well as using ship-to-ship transfers to mask the origins of the crude, methods such as moving to new transshipment locations, or switching transponders are becoming increasingly popular.
'Third Way'
'Zombie ships are the third way,' said Mark Douglas, a maritime domain analyst at Starboard. 'The thinking is like: 'I can't afford to run my own system, so I'll use another ship's identity to get that oil from point A to point B.''
Varada's imposter was the first of the four tankers leaving Venezuela that, if fully laden, would be carrying a total of 7 million barrels of oil.
From José, it sailed across the Atlantic, round the Cape of Good Hope and then through the Indian Ocean, arriving in Malaysian waters on April 18, when it stopped signaling. It stated 'for orders' as its destination, and draft readings indicated it was sitting low in the water, meaning it was heavily laden with oil. Satellite images reviewed by Bloomberg show the zombie ship was still in the area on April 19, 21, 24 and 26.
This patch of water off the east coast of peninsular Malaysia is a popular transshipment point, where dark fleet ships transfer oil to other vessel, often before its delivered to Chinese refineries.
Asia's largest economy was the No. 1 buyer of Venezuelan oil last month, with 10 tankers taking an average of 461,000 barrels per day to processors, according to US Customs and shipping data. Traders on this route have been known to use a variety of methods to avoid scrutiny so that they can be spared from sanctions, but taking on the identities of demolished ships is a new development.
Data from Starboard and Bloomberg suggest that the ship posing as Varada is actually M Sophia, a VLCC built in 2004 that was swept up by US sanctions imposed on Russia's oil industry in January by the outgoing Biden administration. The vessel appears to be spoofing signals that it's in the Gulf of Guinea now. M Sophia fits the profile of a dark ship: it has no known owner, insurer, and appears to sail without a flag.
At two recent shipping conferences held in Singapore, including one organized by Vortexa, maritime-intelligence analysts highlighted the tactic of faking IMO identities as a new source of concern.
Since Varada's double set sail for Asia, three other tankers recorded as scrapped embarked on similar journeys in recent days.
In late March, a ship showing that it's Gema, a VLCC built in 1999, and another that says it's Alana, a 1998-built Suezmax, both left Amuay in Venezuela's west, fully laden with crude. These two tankers have gone around the Cape of Good Hope and appear to be entering the Indian Ocean. In mid-April, a ship identifying as VLCC New Inspiration that was built in 2002 left José, and is heading toward South Africa in the Atlantic Ocean.
The emergence of zombie ships is happening as Washington tightens the screws on Venezuela's oil industry, and threatens to penalize countries that take the crude. President Trump's nominee for US sanctions chief recently singled out the South American country, and buyers of its oil.
'President Trump is sending a clear message that access to our economy is a privilege, not a right,' John Hurley recently told a Senate committee. 'Countries importing Venezuelan oil will face consequences.'
As More Women Lift Weights, Gyms Might Never Be the Same
Why US Men Think College Isn't Worth It Anymore
Healthy Sodas Like Poppi, Olipop Are Drawing PepsiCo's and Coca-Cola's Attention
Eight Charts Show Men Are Falling Behind, From Classrooms to Careers
The Mastermind of the Yellowstone Universe Isn't Done Yet
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

White House looks to freeze more agency funds — and expand executive power
White House looks to freeze more agency funds — and expand executive power

Politico

time6 minutes ago

  • Politico

White House looks to freeze more agency funds — and expand executive power

The Trump administration is working on a new effort to both weaken Congress' grip on the federal budget and freeze billions of dollars in spending at several government agencies, people familiar with the strategy told POLITICO's E&E News. The strategy: order agencies to freeze the spending now — then ask Congress' approval, using a maneuver that allows the cuts to become permanent if lawmakers fail to act. The move would ax billions of dollars beyond the $9.4 billion in White House-requested cuts, known as 'rescissions,' that the House approved Thursday. The Office of Management and Budget late last week directed several agencies to freeze upward of $30 billion in spending on a broad array of programs, according to agency emails and two people familiar with the plan. The architect of the freeze directive, OMB Director Russ Vought, has long lamented the limits placed on the president's ability to direct federal spending. His latest gambit — first reported by E&E News — appears designed to test those boundaries. The agencies targeted by the newest freeze include the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation and the departments of Interior and Health and Human Services. E&E News granted anonymity to the two people familiar with the strategy so they could speak freely without fear of reprisal from the Trump administration. OMB's targets include NSF research and education programs that operate using funding leftover from 2024. Also on the list are tens of millions of dollars for national park operations as well as more than $100 million in science spending at NASA, which includes climate research. While the president has some measure of control over how federal agencies spend their money, the power of the purse lies primarily with Congress under the U.S. Constitution. Put another way: Lawmakers set the budget. Vought is trying to turn that principle on its head. The order to freeze some funding at more than a dozen agencies comes in advance of a budget spending 'deferrals' package that the White House plans to send Congress. Spending deferrals allow the executive branch to temporarily prevent authorized dollars from going out the door — but only if lawmakers sign off on the move. Freezing the spending before making that request seems to fly in the face of Congress' constitutional power and the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, said Joseph Carlile, former associate director at OMB in the Biden administration. 'There is a right, a legal way, for the administration to rescind things and I guess they're pursuing this because they don't have their stuff together or don't care about the law,' said Carlile, who also worked previously on budgetary oversight on the House Appropriations Committee for 13 years. 'This is consistent with an administration that believes that they have broader powers around budget and spending than any other administration has ever been able to find,' Carlile added. White House officials did not deny the new strategy when asked about it. Rather, they described it as a way to lock in spending cuts prescribed by the Department of Government Efficiency, a cost-cutting outfit championed by Trump donor and entrepreneur Elon Musk. Yet the White House has worked to keep the effort quiet, said one person in the administration with direct knowledge of the strategy. The person said the White House directive was communicated largely to agencies over the phone to avoid creating a paper trail. Vought has said repeatedly he disagrees with the impoundment act, a Nixon-era law that limits the president's ability to block spending for political reasons. Democrats and legal scholars have said Trump already has violated the law. 'We're not in love with the law,' Vought told CNN in an interview on June 1. The separate $9.4 billion rescissions package that the House approved Thursday would permanently cut funding for NPR and PBS as well as foreign aid. Vought has said he expects to send more rescissions packages to Congress. Vought's multipronged strategy also is likely to include a 'pocket rescissions' strategy, by which the White House intentionally runs out the clock near the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year. If the president introduces a recissions package then, Congress has a limited time to act — and if it does not do so, the funds slated for elimination are automatically canceled. The White House may use the pocket rescissions strategy if the $9.4 billion rescissions package does not pass both chambers of Congress, the administration person said. And it could pursue another pocket rescissions strategy centered on Labor Department spending. The deferrals package is a third strategy — and it comes ahead of an expected congressional fight on lifting the debt ceiling before the end of the summer. It would essentially pause or significantly slow funding intentionally, until it can be crafted into a separate pocket rescissions package that can run down the clock and be made permanent. Under the impoundment law, the White House can ask Congress to defer some of its budget spending authority 'to provide for contingencies' or 'to achieve savings' through efficiency gains. The White House is planning to argue that hitting the debt ceiling — a borrowing limit imposed and periodically raised by Congress — is such a contingency. The nation is expected to reach the debt ceiling by the end of August. The White House strategy is to delay or block funds now, then craft an additional rescissions package later in the year that would make such cuts permanent. 'OMB is hard at work making the DOGE cuts permanent using a wide range of tools we have at our disposal under the ICA [Impoundment Control Act] and within the President's authority— just like the first rescissions package that was sent up to the Hill this week,' OMB spokesperson Rachel Cauley said in a statement Monday. 'As a part of that process, we are constantly checking in with agencies to assess their unobligated balances.' The latest effort may be more comprehensive than other blocks on federal funding that Vought has enacted, according to the person with direct knowledge of the move. It could also be a 'trial balloon' to see whether the White House can unilaterally block future spending if Trump administration officials object, said another person at an agency that would be affected. The move appears to be a significant escalation of Vought's efforts to test the boundaries of the Impoundment Control Act. Vought's strategy is to rely on Section 1013 of the act, which grants the president the authority to freeze spending if the administration explains its actions to lawmakers. The act originally allowed one chamber of Congress to reject presidential deferrals, a power that courts rejected. As a result, the law was amended in 1987 to limit how long presidents could delay spending and under what conditions. 'It does not appear that any measures to disapprove a deferral have been considered since these amendments were made,' the Congressional Research Service said in a February report on the impoundment law. Vought has long argued that impounding some congressionally appropriated funding is constitutional, and he has said he wants the Supreme Court to validate what would be a significant weakening of congressional oversight of the federal budget. The deferrals package the White House plans to send Congress would temporarily stop agencies from spending unobligated funds that remain at the end of the government's fiscal year on Sept. 30. The broad-based deferrals package is highly unusual and could be part of his strategy to take his fight for greater executive power to the Supreme Court, said Philip Joyce, a professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy and author of the book 'The Congressional Budget Office: Honest Numbers, Power, and Policymaking.' 'It is a novel approach, but I think in the end, they really want this to go to the Supreme Court,' Joyce said. 'They think they know how the Supreme Court is going to rule and once the Supreme Court opens the door, you know, it's kind of high noon for the separation of powers, which is what they want.' Last week, OMB officials reached out to federal agencies to tell them to enact the spending freeze. Some agency officials were 'shocked' at the move, according to the administration official with direct knowledge of the plan. The head of the National Science Foundation's budget office didn't know what to make of the directive, according to an email obtained by E&E News. OMB is targeting the agency's research and education 'accounts for a deferral package,' NSF Budget Director Caitlyn Fife wrote last Friday in a note to top officials. 'I imagine you will all have questions, as do we,' she said. 'However we are immediately focused on pulling the funds back to ensure there are no further commitments or obligations.' An NSF official briefed on the spending freeze said offices relying on previous-year funding could see their 'programs gutted.' The official also predicted that if OMB's ploy succeeds, it will use deferrals to impound any congressionally directed spending the administration opposes. That means the deferrals package strategy is likely the start of a significant and questionable push to expand executive power, said Carlile, the former OMB associate director. He said the White House is essentially seeking to subvert the Constitution, which grants Congress spending authority, in such an extreme way that it threatens the nation's democratic structure. 'I think it upends a fundamental check and balance contemplated in our Constitution, and I don't understand how you subordinate Congress' power of the purse,' Carlile said. Federal spending decisions are 'a deal between the executive and the legislative branch as institutions,' he added. 'And this all starts to unravel real quick if our budgetary framework really actually meant nothing.'

Everything to Know About the Los Angeles Immigration Sweeps and Anti-ICE Protests
Everything to Know About the Los Angeles Immigration Sweeps and Anti-ICE Protests

Eater

time6 minutes ago

  • Eater

Everything to Know About the Los Angeles Immigration Sweeps and Anti-ICE Protests

On Friday, June 6, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began a series of large-scale immigration sweeps across Southern California, targeting undocumented immigrants. Early reports indicated agents were raiding the parking lot of a Westlake Home Depot, as well as making arrests in the Fashion District at two locations of Ambiance Apparel. The people of Los Angeles responded quickly to the sweeps, with protesters gathering around Ambiance Apparel and later at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Downtown Los Angeles, located near Little Tokyo. On the second day of protests, June 7, President Trump federalized California's National Guard, deploying 2,000 troops to Los Angeles, a move that California Gov. Gavin Newsom called 'purposefully inflammatory' in a post on X. On June 10, amid expanding sweeps and continuing protests, the Pentagon deployed 700 Marines to Los Angeles, and LA Mayor Karen Bass instituted a curfew for Downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. As of June 12, the curfew remains in effect, with no set end date. Businesses in the affected area have adjusted hours and shut down in the evenings to comply with the order. Food and restaurant workers are statistically likely to be impacted by raids. The American Immigration Council estimates that immigrants make up 22 percent of all U.S. workers in the food service industry, and according to the Center for Migration Studies, about 45 percent of U.S. agricultural workers are undocumented. On May 31, San Diego Italian restaurant Buona Forchetta was raided by ICE, and on June 10, the Los Angeles Times reported that ICE agents were raiding farms and packing house distribution centers in Ventura, Kern, and Tulare counties. Following the most recent sweeps, President Trump put out a statement on Truth Social promising changes. 'Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long-time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,' he wrote in the post. The administration has not shared further details regarding the changes. Multiple publications report that amid the ongoing sweeps, workers are afraid to go to work, and some green card holders are concerned about going to the grocery store or running errands. Trump administration 'border czar' Tom Homan has said that the immigration sweeps will continue, with ICE expected to be in Los Angeles for at least 30 days. Where is ICE conducting immigration sweeps? The first sweeps were spotted on June 6 in Los Angeles's Fashion District and at a Westlake Home Depot. Since then, ICE has been spotted at car washes in Westchester and Culver City, at farmland north of Los Angeles, and at both commercial businesses and residential neighborhoods in the area. Locals have been sharing ICE sightings with the crowdsourced map People Over Papers. The bulk of the protests remain in Downtown Los Angeles, centered around the federal building. Satellite protests have popped up at sites of ICE raids, and in neighborhoods like Koreatown and Westlake after the curfew was implemented Downtown. During the first week of protests, LAPD deployed less-than-lethal munitions and tear gas against protesters. What happens with businesses in the curfew zone? Businesses in the curfew zone — which includes Downtown LA, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, and the Arts District — are required to close at 8 p.m. Some, like Camelia, the Mermaid, and Sampa, are pivoting to daytime hours from their usual dinner shift. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Mermaid had initially opened for regular service on Monday, June 9, but had to close after an hour, following an incident in which protesters were pushed in their direction. The bar is running hours from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., until the curfew is lifted. Here are the restaurants currently affected by the curfew, and their adjusted hours: Camelia— Running daytime hours starting Friday, June 1,3 from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. Ki— Temporarily closed as of June 11 Sampa— Adjusted daytime hours; open until 7 p.m. Death and Co.— Temporarily closed as of June 11 Sonoratown— Downtown LA location closing at 6:30 p.m. Everson Royce Bar— Temporarily closed Father's Office— Temporarily closed Steep— Operating adjusted hours from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. through June 15 See More:

House approves Trump's request to cut funding for NPR, PBS and foreign aid
House approves Trump's request to cut funding for NPR, PBS and foreign aid

Associated Press

time8 minutes ago

  • Associated Press

House approves Trump's request to cut funding for NPR, PBS and foreign aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House narrowly voted Thursday to cut about $9.4 billion in spending already approved by Congress as President Donald Trump's administration looks to follow through on work done by the Department of Government Efficiency when it was overseen by Elon Musk. The package targets foreign aid programs and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides money for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service as well as thousands of public radio and television stations around the country. The vote was 214-212. Republicans are characterizing the spending as wasteful and unnecessary, but Democrats say the rescissions are hurting the United States' standing in the world and will lead to needless deaths. 'Cruelty is the point,' Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said of the proposed spending cuts. The Trump administration is employing a tool rarely used in recent years that allows the president to transmit a request to Congress to cancel previously appropriated funds. That triggers a 45-day clock in which the funds are frozen pending congressional action. If Congress fails to act within that period, then the spending stands. 'This rescissions package sends $9.4 billion back to the U.S. Treasury,' said Rep. Lisa McClain, House Republican Conference chair. 'That's $9.4 billion of savings that taxpayers won't see wasted. It's their money.' The benefit for the administration of a formal rescissions request is that passage requires only a simple majority in the 100-member Senate instead of the 60 votes usually required to get spending bills through that chamber. So if they stay united, Republicans will be able to pass the measure without any Democratic votes. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the Senate would likely not take the bill up until July and after it has dealt with Trump's big tax and immigration bill. He also said it's possible the Senate could tweak the bill. The administration is likening the first rescissions package to a test case and says more could be on the way if Congress goes along. Republicans, sensitive to concerns that Trump's sweeping tax and immigration bill would increase future federal deficits, are anxious to demonstrate spending discipline, though the cuts in the package amount to just a sliver of the spending approved by Congress each year. They are betting the cuts prove popular with constituents who align with Trump's 'America first' ideology as well as those who view NPR and PBS as having a liberal bias. In all, the package contains 21 proposed rescissions. Approval would claw back about $900 million from $10 billion that Congress has approved for global health programs. That includes canceling $500 million for activities related to infectious diseases and child and maternal health and another $400 million to address the global HIV epidemic. The Trump administration is also looking to cancel $800 million, or a quarter of the amount Congress approved, for a program that provides emergency shelter, water and sanitation, and family reunification for those forced to flee their own country. About 45% of the savings sought by the White House would come from two programs designed to boost the economies, democratic institutions and civil societies in developing countries. Democratic leadership, in urging their caucus to vote no, said that package would eliminate access to clean water for more than 3.6 million people and lead to millions more not having access to a school. 'Those Democrats saying that these rescissions will harm people in other countries are missing the point,' McClain said. 'It's about people in our country being put first.' The Republican president has also asked lawmakers to rescind nearly $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which represents the full amount it's slated to receive during the next two budget years. About two-thirds of the money gets distributed to more than 1,500 locally owned public radio and television stations. Nearly half of those stations serve rural areas of the country. The association representing local public television stations warns that many of them would be forced to close if the Republican measure passes. Those stations provide emergency alerts, free educational programming and high school sports coverage and highlight hometown heroes. Advocacy groups that serve the world's poorest people are also sounding the alarm and urging lawmakers to vote no. 'We are already seeing women, children and families left without food, clean water and critical services after earlier aid cuts, and aid organizations can barely keep up with rising needs,' said Abby Maxman, president and CEO of Oxfam America, a poverty-fighting organization. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said the foreign aid is a tool that prevents conflict and promotes stability, but the measure before the House takes that tool away. 'These cuts will lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands, devastating the most vulnerable in the world,' McGovern said. 'This bill is good for Russia and China and undertakers,' added Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn. Republicans disparaged the foreign aid spending and sought to link it to programs they said DOGE had uncovered. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said taxpayer dollars had gone to such things as targeting climate change, promoting pottery classes and strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Other Republicans cited similar examples they said DOGE had revealed. 'Yet, my friends on the other side of the aisle would like you to believe, seriously, that if you don't use your taxpayer dollars to fund this absurd list of projects and thousands of others I didn't even list, that somehow people will die and our global standing in the world will crumble,' Roy said. 'Well, let's just reject this now.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store