U.S. seizes tanker off Venezuela

The United States said it seized the crude oil tanker M/T Skipper on December 10, 2025, after the vessel departed Venezuela and was traveling on the high seas. The Justice Department later identified the ship as a tanker previously known as the Adisa and said U.S. authorities were acting under a seizure warrant signed on November 26 by a magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The case matters because the vessel was carrying Venezuelan crude in a trade Washington says was tied to sanctioned networks. A Justice Department forfeiture complaint filed on February 27, 2026, said the Skipper was seized with about 1.8 million barrels of crude supplied by Petróleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, Venezuela’s state oil company. (justice.gov) ### Which tanker did the United States take? The Justice Department named the ship as the M/T Skipper, IMO number 9304667, in a December 12, 2025, statement unsealing the warrant. The department said the vessel had previously been called the Adisa. December 10 is the date U.S. authorities say the Coast Guard boarded and seized the tanker. (justice.gov) The department said the ship was intercepted after leaving Venezuela and that Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI carried out the seizure after the Coast Guard boarding. ### What legal basis did Washington give? (justice.gov) A magistrate judge in Washington signed the seizure warrant on November 26, 2025, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The department said the warrant was authorized under federal forfeiture and terrorism statutes. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had previously identified the Skipper as part of an oil shipping network supporting Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force, according to the same statement. (justice.gov) The Justice Department said those allegations were part of the basis for the seizure. ### How did U.S. officials describe the cargo? The February 27, 2026, forfeiture complaint said the tanker and its cargo are subject to forfeiture because they allegedly afforded a source of influence over the IRGC, including the IRGC-Qods Force. The complaint said the cargo totaled about 1.8 million barrels of crude supplied by PDVSA. (justice.gov) Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in that filing announcement that the department would use “every legal authority” available against operations that violate U.S. law. FBI Director Kash Patel said the case showed the bureau’s commitment to enforcing sanctions and disrupting financial networks used by what he called hostile regimes. (justice.gov) ### Was this a one-off action? Reuters reported on December 11, 2025, that U.S. officials were preparing to intercept additional ships transporting Venezuelan oil, citing six sources familiar with the matter. Those sources said the Skipper seizure had been planned for months by the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration would continue carrying out the president’s sanctions policies, according to Reuters. (justice.gov) Reuters also reported that shipping companies and maritime agencies involved in Venezuelan crude were reassessing planned sailings after the seizure. ### Why does oil sit at the center of pressure on Venezuela? (cbc.ca) AP reported on January 15, 2026, that Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, even though its production accounts for less than 1% of global supply. The report said decades of mismanagement, corruption and the loss of skilled workers had hollowed out the industry. Reuters reported that Venezuelan oil exports are the government’s main source of revenue and that any reduction or halt in exports would strain the Maduro government’s finances. (cbc.ca) That is the clearest reason oil shipments have become a target of U.S. enforcement. ### What happens next in the case? February 27, 2026, is the next concrete milestone in the public record because that is when the Justice Department said it filed the forfeiture complaint in federal court in Washington. (apnews.com) The filing seeks to forfeit both the M/T Skipper and its 1.8 million-barrel cargo. (cbc.ca) The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is the venue to watch for the next formal step. Any further disposition of the tanker, the cargo, or related claims would appear through that forfeiture case and any additional Justice Department filings. (justice.gov 1) (justice.gov 2)