Kaya
Selby, RNZ Pacific journalist
The Cook
Islands says a US sanctioned oil tanker is falsely using
their country’s identifiers to evade capture.
The
Bertha, which flew under the Cooks flag for almost nine
months in 2024, is among at least 16 vessels that have
reportedly attempted to evade US blockades in
Venezuela.
The New York Times reported
the Bertha, under the false name of Ekta, has been
located by US authorities in the Carribean, but has yet to
be captured.
Others have either been captured, or have
spoofed (turned off) their signals to evade tracking, the
NYT reported.
A major American naval blockade on
Venezuela’s energy exports was introduced last
month.
The Bertha was sanctioned for transportation of
Iranian crude oil in December 2024, less than a month after
it was deregistered by Maritime Cook Islands in
November.
“It appears that Bertha is continuing to use
Cook Islands identifiers (MMSI 518999103 and Call Sign
E5U5084) in her Automatic Identification System (AIS)
transmissions.” the authority said in
a statement today.
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This deceptive practice enables
the vessel to show falsely as being registered with the Cook
Islands on commercial tracking platforms.”
Numerous Cooks-flagged
ships have been identified with Russia’s “shadow fleet”
of vessels illicitly trading in Russian and Iranian crude
oil.
Maritime Cook Islands said vessels within the
“shadow fleet” are usually deceptive in their location
signalling through Automatic Identification System (AIS)
transmissions. This typically includes spoofing locations
and broadcasting false vessel
identities.
MarineTraffic.com, which lists the Bertha
under the Cooks flag, reported the vessels last location
near the Gulf of Guinea on December 23rd.
The Cook
Islands Maritime Authority has been approached for further
comment.
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