The 1993-built Panama-flagged tanker Icaro appears to be heading to the stricken floating storage unit Nabarima, which is laden with crude from the Corocoro field, Lloyd’s List Intelligence data shows. Two tugs are also near by

Victims of cyber attacks ‘may not have done anything wrong, but they are in a position where they can’t make the payment,’ says HFW partner

American expectations that marine service providers share unsubstantiated information about possible sanctions-busting vessels is a ‘kiss of death’ for innocent shipowners, says International Group

Shipping companies and organisations have received a sharp wake-up call as to the threat of cyber attacks, with several affected in the past few weeks alone. In response, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued advisories highlighting the increased sanctions risks associated with ransomware payments

Lloyd’s List and industry experts discuss the updated US Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions guidance and how any organisation with exposure to shipping or cargoes needs to understand, identify and mitigate the risk to their operations

US State Department officials gave a November deadline for shipments to the east coast refinery to stop, while 16 million barrels of Venezuelan crude remains in floating storage on the opposite coast

Crude oil exports from Venezuela have plummeted since the imposition of new US sanctions guidance and new Lloyd’s List Intelligence data shows Greek shipowners have drastically reduced their exposure to the country since four tankers were briefly blacklisted in June

After the US seized Venezuelan-bound Iranian gasoline cargoes on Greece-owned tankers in the past month, Iran has taken the provocative step of sending gasoline on its own ships, arriving weeks before the US presidential election

Greek-owned tankers are still shipping Venezuelan crude, but in much smaller volumes and only to European or Indian refineries, as part of diesel-for-crude swaps

Washington has imposed financial sanctions on 11 entities based in Iran, China and the UAE over alleged violations of a US ban on the export of Iranian oil and petroleum products

The US claims that Iran used Mobin, Oman Fuel and Sohar Fuel as fronts to mask the shipping of fuel from Iran to Venezuela, which shares borders with Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago. The companies however said that the fuel was ultimately destined for sale to Peru and Colombia

Nabarima is reported to be in very poor condition and in danger of sinking in the Gulf of Paria in Venezuela. Lloyd’s List Intelligence reports that the Venezuela-flagged very large crude carrier’s lower deck equipment is under three metres of water and it is listing. The damage has been blamed on improper handling of equipment by unskilled workers owing to crewing shortages