The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Feb. 27 it is suing for forfeiture of the seized motor tanker Skipper, which allegedly violated American sanctions by carrying Venezuelan and Iranian oil.
The United States seized the vessel in the Caribbean Sea in December 2025, along with its cargo of 1.8 million barrels of crude oil, under a judicially authorized seizure warrant.
It also alleged the vessel was part of a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions by facilitating the sale of petroleum products to benefit Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is under U.S. sanctions.
Assistant U.S. Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the DOJ’s criminal division said the seizure of the Skipper and the lawsuit would help make the United States and the world safer “by disrupting the flow of millions of dollars to foreign terrorist organizations.”
In this forfeiture action, the federal government is suing the property itself, as opposed to any specific individuals or entities, on the theory that the property was involved in illicit conduct.
If the government prevails in the lawsuit, it acquires ownership of the property without having to compensate its current owner.
The complaint states that between at least 2021 and the present, the Skipper transported crude oil from Iran and Venezuela and, through ship-to-ship transfers, delivered it to various locations worldwide, including countries run by what the U.S. government considers rogue regimes.
The complaint stated that an unidentified confidential human source said the Skipper has a history of exporting crude oil from the José Terminal in Venezuela, which is owned and operated by PdVSA and its subsidiaries.
The Skipper allegedly hid its illicit activities “by spoofing its locations, flying false flags, and employing other tactics to obfuscate its routes and conceal its sanctions evasion,” according to the complaint.
Soon after the warrant was executed on the Skipper, personnel onboard the vessel told U.S. officials that it was initially headed toward Cuba, but plans changed, and the crew was informed to set course for an unidentified country in Asia, the complaint said.
The vessel allegedly delivered about three million barrels of crude oil from Iran to Syria in 2024.
It continued carrying illicit oil from Iran and Venezuela into 2025, including accepting a shipment of oil from Iran at least twice that year, the department said.
The Epoch Times was unable to reach the Skipper’s owner for comment.
The complaint identified the owner as Windward Shipmanagement Corp. of Seychelles, a country in the Indian Ocean east of Africa.