Monthly Strategy Report
January 2026, Vol. 5, Issue 1
By Tom Dyson
Two more dark fleet tanker seizures today…
The coast guard working with the US military has seized a dark fleet Venezuela-linked VLCC named Marinera in waters near Iceland. They were chasing it for two weeks, according to Reuters. The tanker appears to be empty, so I’m not sure why seizing it was such a priority. It was also being chaperoned by a Russian submarine. Perhaps there’s more to this story than the news is reporting.
The US government also seized another Venezuela-linked tanker this morning in the Caribbean, the Sophia. This one was loaded.
As you well know, there’s a large black market for oil and oil transportation, which we’ve been watching for years. This morning’s news is just further confirmation that they’re trying to shut this black market down.
