Goldwyn: U.S. has the authority to seize vessels on Treasury’s “Specially Designated Nationals” list, but the power has been rarely exercised.

President Donald Trump said U.S. forces intercepted “a very large tanker, the largest one ever, actually” off Venezuela and, when asked about the cargo, added: “We keep it, I guess.” Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated that the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Coast Guard, with Defense Department support, executed a court-approved seizure warrant against a vessel long used to move sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.  

Sanctioned oil trader Viktor Artemov

The tanker has been identified by maritime risk firm Vanguard and shipping databases as the Panama-registered VLCC SKIPPER (IMO 9304667) previously Adisa and originally built as Toyo in 2005. It is managed by Nigeria-based Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd and owned via Triton Navigation, a Marshall Islands company that the U.S. Treasury has linked to sanctioned oil trader Viktor Artemov through front companies and tankers.

Puerto José Port

Washington sanctioned the vessel in November 2022 under its former name for allegedly helping blend and move Iranian crude under false paperwork to generate revenue for Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Quds Force. U.S. officials say it has also been transporting Venezuelan crude despite sanctions imposed on Caracas since 2019. 

Satellite tracking by TankerTrackers and internal PDVSA schedules indicate the Skipper loaded Merey heavy crude at Puerto José between December 4 and 5, later transferring part of the cargo near Curaçao to Panama-flagged Neptune 6, which sources said was bound for Cuba, before U.S. forces intercepted the Skipper in the Caribbean.

Bondi released video of a boarding operation involving helicopters and armed personnel. Defense officials and analysts said the team included the Coast Guard’s Maritime Security Response Team and U.S. Marines operating from the carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, though Washington has not disclosed full details. Bondi said the boarding occurred in international waters and was tied to existing terrorism-related sanctions.  

 Venezuela : “A blatant theft and an act of international piracy,”

Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry condemned the seizure as “a blatant theft and an act of international piracy,” alleging a U.S. plan to dispossess the country of its resources. Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department said Washington informed it that the Skipper was stopped while falsely flying Guyana’s flag and denounced rising misuse of national flags.

Analysts noted that more than 30 sanctioned tankers are clustered around Venezuelan ports and that about 15% of the global VLCC fleet is tied to sanctioned trades. Venezuela exported slightly over 900,000 barrels per day last month

The impact on Venezuelan oil exports is likely to be “modest”

David Goldwyn, head of the international energy consulting firm Goldwyn Global Strategies and a former State Department official in the Obama administration, said the impact on Venezuelan oil exports is likely to be “modest” as long as the ship was on the U.S. sanctions list.

“Chinese trade for the most part is not going on sanctioned vessels,” Goldwyn said. He said most exports are likely to continue “unless Chinese importers are foolish enough to use sanctioned vessels” or the administration shifts its policy to interdict all vessels carrying Venezuelan crude.

Goldwyn said the U.S. has the authority to seize vessels on Treasury’s “Specially Designated Nationals” list, but the power has been rarely exercised.

U.S. has not seized ships on the SDN recently

“The U.S. has not seized ships on the SDN recently that I am aware of, but largely because we have not had flotillas off the shores of Iran or Russia, nor has it been a mission for the U.S. Navy to seize these sanctions violators,” he said. “The U.S. has largely made it hard for these designated companies and shippers to participate in international commerce because no legitimate company or bank wants to transact with an SDN.”

In 2014, U.S. Navy SEALs boarded and seized the oil tanker Morning Glory off Cyprus after Libyan rebels filled it with crude stolen from the Libyan government.

Related : US Coast Guard, Navy Seize Nearly 1,300 Pounds of Cocaine

Source : Agencies 
President Donald Trump , U.S. Coast Guard ,Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry David Goldwyn,,  Panama-registered Oil tanker ,FBI ,VLCC SKIPPER  , Adisa ,Viktor Artemov,Puerto José port