The U.S. Justice Department has initiated formal legal proceedings to claim permanent ownership of a sanctioned oil tanker and its nearly 2-million-barrel petroleum cargo, marking a significant escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign against Venezuela’s leadership. The vessel, identified as the Skipper, was intercepted off the Venezuelan coast in December as part of Washington’s broader strategy to cripple Nicolás Maduro’s regime by cutting off its primary revenue source.
This represents the first legal complaint filed by U.S. authorities to formally seize one of at least ten oil tankers intercepted since late last year. American officials allege Venezuela has employed a ‘shadow fleet’ of vessels with falsified flags to clandestinely transport illicit crude into global supply chains, bypassing international sanctions.
Attorney General Pam Bondi stated, ‘Under President Trump’s leadership, the era of secretly bankrolling regimes that pose clear threats to the United States is over. This Department of Justice will deploy every legal authority at our disposal to completely dismantle and permanently shutter any operation that defies our laws and fuels chaos across the globe.’
The Justice Department asserts that the Skipper had been moving oil from both Iran and Venezuela worldwide while flying false flags to conceal its activities. Officials claim the operations generated revenue for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which the U.S. designates as a foreign terrorist organization.
The seizure comes amid heightened tensions following Maduro’s arrest last month in a U.S. raid and subsequent transfer to New York to face drug trafficking charges. Despite pleading not guilty and maintaining his presidential status, Maduro’s capture has triggered a series of vessel interdictions, with U.S. forces tracking and intercepting tankers as far away as the Indian Ocean.
The Trump administration has systematically worked to control Venezuela’s oil production, refining, and global distribution while overseeing revenue flows. Concurrently, the U.S. has begun lifting broad sanctions to allow foreign companies to operate in Venezuela in an effort to revitalize the country’s struggling oil industry.
A federal judge in Washington must now approve the U.S. government’s bid for permanent ownership of the Skipper and its cargo, which could potentially be sold on the market.