(Bloomberg) — Two of the Iran-linked oil supertankers interdicted by American naval forces early in the war are just weeks away from reaching the US, where authorities have pledged to seize the vessels and millions of dollars worth of crude that they’re transporting.
It’s an unusual voyage for Iranian barrels, which have been banned in the US for decades, and attests to the surprising upheavals triggered by the seven-month conflict between Washington and Tehran.
Tifani and Majestic X, both boarded by US forces in the Indian Ocean in April as President Donald Trump imposed a blockade aimed at pressuring Iran to end the war, have skirted the coast of Brazil over the past week, according to shipping data compiled by Bloomberg. A third interdicted ship was observed heading west into the Atlantic after rounding the Cape of Good Hope.
The seizures captivated the market at the time as the US imposed a strict blockade on Iran’s oil exports. The ships initially changed direction multiple times in the Indian Ocean, with it unclear where they would eventually go.
In April, Bloomberg News reported that the Justice Department had initiated a forfeiture process against the Tifani and Majestic X, which is also known as Phonix. The ships were boarded near Sri Lanka earlier that month.
Homeland Security Investigations later said in a post on X that law enforcement agents were executing federal warrants to seize the tankers and the roughly 4 million barrels of Iranian oil they had been carrying. The third tanker — known as Lenore and the Davina — was intercepted in the Indian Ocean in June.
The US Attorney’s Office in Washington confirmed Friday that it had filed cases related to the Tifani, Majestic X, and the Lenore. A spokesperson for US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement that they couldn’t comment further on “any operational details with respect to the vessels or the Office’s future plans, if any, to seize other vessels or cargo.”
The so-called very large crude carriers can each transport 2 million barrels of crude, valuing the entirety of there cargoes at almost $600 million at current market prices. All are sailing at about 8 or 9 knots, whereas normal speeds are 12 to 13 knots.
Tankertrackers.com, a firm that has long monitored Iran’s oil flows, said that based on the precedent of US actions in Venezuela, the ships will likely go to the US.
A spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, sent by WhatsApp.
If they do go to a US port, they will mark the first Iranian oil to reach American shores since consignments brought under an earlier forfeiture process in 2023, data from the Energy Information Administration show. Around that time, the US ordered a tanker carrying China-bound Iranian crude to divert to the US.
In past cases where tankers have been seized, the Trump administration has attempted to sell the captured vessels and oil for a profit. To make that possible, the Justice Department has employed asset forfeiture as a legal tool to seize property said to be linked to criminal activity, often through proceedings against the asset itself rather than an individual.
Trump appeared to reference that tactic at a dinner in Palm Beach, Florida, in May, calling it a “very profitable” business. “We took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil,” he said. “Who would have thought we were doing that? We’re like pirates.”
Such efforts have hit snags in the past. When the US government filed a forfeiture complaint against an oil tanker holding 1.8 million barrels of crude that was seized in the November during the Venezuelan blockade, the vessel’s owner intervened to block the sale of the ship. By March, the Trump administration had already spent $47 million on the upkeep of the vessel Skipper, almost five times the value of the aging supertanker.
To streamline its efforts, the Justice Department has since sought to introduce an archaic maritime war court system to capture Iranian oil tankers as US prizes, Bloomberg reported in August. The Justice Department has focused on the Southern District of Texas federal trial court as the venue.
In response to questions on the status of the three tankers earlier this month, the White House referred to the Justice Department, which in turn referred to a statement from United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Aaron Reitz.
“My Office is ready to represent the interests of the United States in adjudicating prizes brought to the Southern District of Texas through our federal courts in the interests of national security and justice,” Reitz said in that statement.
The US announced its initial naval blockade on April 12, seeking to constrict Iranian oil flows and deprive the country of revenues while pushing for an agreement to end the conflict. It echoed measures previously deployed against Venezuela in the run-up to the capture of its then-leader, Nicolas Maduro.
The embargo was relaxed when the two sides reached a tentative cease-fire in June, but subsequently re-imposed when their peace negotiations unraveled and fresh hostilities broke out.
–With assistance from Jimmy Jenkins and Golnar Motevalli.
(Adds statement from US Attorney’s Office in seventh paragraph)
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