US Seizes Three Tankers Tied to Iranian, Venezuelan Oil Networks

The U.S. government has intensified enforcement against oil shipments tied to sanctioned actors by seizing three tankers linked to Iranian and Venezuelan oil networks.

The first tanker, The Skipper, was seized on December 10 while carrying approximately 1.8 million barrels of crude oil originating from Venezuela. The vessel claimed a false Guyanese flag and used location spoofing and ship-to-ship transfers to move oil tied to Iranian and Venezuelan entities.

A second tanker, the former Bella 1 renamed Marinera, was seized on January 7 after a weeks-long pursuit. The Justice Department linked this tanker to transporting oil from both Iran and Venezuela while operating with an inactive tracking transponder.

The third tanker, Bertha, was boarded in the Indian Ocean on February 24, completing the three-operation campaign against shadow-fleet tankers accused of moving sanctioned oil through false flags and disabled tracking systems.