The U.S. government on Feb. 27 filed a civil forfeiture complaint to take ownership of a seized oil tanker and about 1.8 million barrels of crude, stating that the vessel was used to move oil to help fund Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, targets the Motor Tanker Skipper, a crude oil tanker seized by U.S. authorities on the high seas on Dec. 10. Prosecutors are also seeking to forfeit its cargo, loaded in Venezuela shortly before the seizure.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the tanker and its oil are forfeitable because they allegedly generated influence and revenue for the IRGC and its Qods Force, both of which are designated under U.S. sanctions. Officials describe the Skipper as part of a broader “ghost fleet” used to shuttle oil in defiance of U.S. sanctions.
“For too long, a shadow fleet of stateless and falsely registered vessels has operated with impunity while shuttling illicit oil around the world, generating billions in revenue for adversary regimes and foreign terrorist organizations,” John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for National Security, stated.
Prosecutors allege that from at least 2021 through 2025, the Skipper transported crude from Iran and Venezuela using ship‑to‑ship transfers and other covert methods.
“The Skipper disguised its illicit activities by spoofing its locations, flying false flags and employing other tactics to obfuscate its routes and conceal its sanctions evasion,” the complaint says.
When seized, the tanker was flying a false Guyanese flag, a tactic U.S. officials say rendered it stateless. The vessel and its cargo were taken to the waters off the Texas coast.
The vessel, previously named Adisa, was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in November 2022. In 2024, it reportedly delivered about 3 million barrels of Iranian crude oil to Syria and continued to move Iranian oil into 2025.
Revenue from those shipments, authorities say, helped finance the IRGC’s weapons proliferation and support for terrorism.
Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, stated that the Justice Department will aggressively enforce sanctions and pursue vessels that serve as revenue sources for the IRGC and its proxies.
“With the continued seizures and forfeitures of tankers and related profits, we are sending a clear message that there will be no safe harbor for sanctions evasion—and that we will deny Iran the ability to fund terrorism through its shadowy maritime networks,” she added.
