The “Solo Creed”, the tugboat behind the oil spill off the Tobago coast, belonged to a director of a network of Panamanian companies, accused of transporting oil from Venezuela.

The tugboat’s registration documents were provided to Bellingcat and Guardian Media by the Zanzibar Maritime authority (ZMA).

The documents show the Solo Creed was owned by a director—Melissa Rona Gonzalez—of a panama-based firm called Melaj offshore corporation when it was towing the gulfstream barge, on the ill-fated journey that led to the ongoing oil spill.

Public data from the Panamanian corporate registry shows that Ms. Gonzalez is an officer of Melaj offshore corporation, and that the power of attorney for Melaj, belongs to Augustine Jackson.

Reports are saying, Mr. Jackson, who also goes by the name captain Austin Jackson, is a businessman with operations in panama, Guyana, Dubai, Bahamas and Nigeria, and bears a Sierra Leone passport.

In 2020, during the pandemic, he was interested in purchasing vessels from Caridoc but the acquisition was never completed.

Data also shows that several directors of Melaj, including Jackson and Gonzalez, share a directorship in three other companies: innovation and engineering services, Inc.; Milan Maritime operations, SA; and Milan shipping enterprise corporation.