Seized Shadow Fleet Tanker Gets Under Way in U.S. Coast Guard Custody

The seized tanker Skipper has turned its AIS transponder back on and is now broadcasting a position just east of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, heading northbound for an unknown destination.

The stateless, sanctioned vessel was captured on Wednesday by a U.S. Coast Guard boarding team in a rare execution of an arrest warrant in international waters. A federal court authorized the capture of the Skipper for alleged violations of sanctions on Iran's energy industry, confirmed by multiple independent tracking groups. Activist group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) cheered the move.

"Skipper and tankers like it help bankroll both the brutal regimes in Iran and Venezuela through transport of illicit and U.S.-sanctioned oil. We have long called for American interdictions of ships transporting blacklisted oil in defiance of U.S. sanctions, noting in 2023 that ‘interdictions should take place if the world has any chance of squeezing the Islamic Republic and its terror-financing oil wealth,'" said UANI Chairman Governor Jeb Bush and UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace in a joint statement.

According to TankerTrackers.com, Skipper has approximately 1.85 million barrels of crude oil on board, based on declared draft. Assuming discounted pricing for the heavy Merey-16 blend in the vessel's cargo tanks, the shipment is likely worth somewhere north of $90 million. The vessel itself also has value, though not necessarily as an operating asset. At roughly 40,000 light displacement tonnes - a standard measure of steel content - the demolition value for the 20-year-old tanker would be in the range of $15 million if sold to scrappers in Southeast Asia, or $10 million if sold to yards in Turkey. In the commercial market, tankers typically retire from service with oil majors at the 20-year mark, though many soldier on in the shadow fleet well past that age.

If the U.S. wished to seize more tankers similar to Skipper, it has many options to choose from: not counting Skipper there are 396 more "shadow fleet" vessels linked to Venezuela, according to TankerTrackers.com, including 142 in the VLCC size class or larger.

Some of the listed ships are sanctioned, and more are added all the time. The Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) put six more Venezuela-linked vessels onto its list of sanctioned entities on Thursday afternoon: H Constance (IMO 9237773), Kiara M (IMO 9285823), Lattafa (IMO 9245794), Monique (IMO 9311270), Tamia (IMO 9315642) and White Crane (IMO 9323429). All are currently located overseas and far from easy American access - some off Africa, others in Southeast Asia.