U.S. Seeks Legal Approval To Seize Tanker Skipper And 1.8 Million Barrels Of Venezuelan Oil

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to seize the motor tanker M/T Skipper and approximately 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan-origin crude oil, alleging the vessel supported Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The complaint was filed on Feb. 27, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The action follows the seizure of the tanker on Dec. 10, 2025, on the high seas. U.S. authorities later transported the vessel and its cargo to waters off Texas, where it has remained anchored near Galveston since Dec. 21, 2025.

According to the complaint, U.S. law enforcement executed a judicially authorised seizure warrant against the tanker while it was allegedly operating without nationality and falsely claiming a Guyanese flag.

The Justice Department is seeking forfeiture of both the vessel and its cargo under U.S. sanctions and counterterrorism laws.

Prosecutors from the Criminal Division, National Security Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia are handling the case.

A federal judge must approve the forfeiture request before the U.S. can permanently take ownership and potentially sell the oil cargo.

Maritime enforcement filings include a warrant for the arrest of the vessel and instructions to the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the tanker.

The complaint alleges the tanker moved crude oil from Iran and Venezuela between at least 2021 and 2025 through deceptive maritime practices.

These reportedly included ship-to-ship transfers, falsified shipping documents, manipulation of automatic identification systems (AIS), and flying false flags.

U.S. authorities claim the vessel loaded approximately 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan crude at the José Terminal in November 2025.

Bills of lading cited in the filing indicate that about 1.1 million barrels were intended for Cubametales, Cuba’s state-run oil import and export company, which has been designated by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) since July 2019.

Investigators also allege that over the previous two years, the tanker loaded more than seven million barrels of Iranian crude. In 2024, the vessel allegedly delivered approximately three million barrels of Iranian oil to Syria.

The vessel was sanctioned by OFAC on Nov. 3, 2022, when it operated under the name Adisa.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated that the department would use all available legal authorities to dismantle operations that violate U.S. sanctions laws.

Officials from the National Security Division and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) also emphasised ongoing efforts to disrupt sanctions-evasion networks linked to the IRGC and its Quds Force.

References: US DOJ