UANI Applauds President Trump’s Seizure of the VLCC SKIPPER

UANI Added SKIPPER to its “Ghost Armada” List in 2022

(New York, NY) – United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Chairman Governor Jeb Bush and UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace released the following statement today after President Trump and his administration seized the SKIPPER oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela:

“UANI applauds President Trump and his administration for seizing the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) SKIPPER (9304667), AKA ADISA. 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.’

“We also congratulate the U.S. government for helping facilitate Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado’s secret travel to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Built in 2005, and capable of carrying about 2.2 million barrels of cargo, aged tankers like SKIPPER should be properly scrapped. Instead, their owners operate under cover while avoiding Port State Control safety inspections—presenting not only a security threat but risking environmental and ecological disaster.

UANI added SKIPPER to its Ghost Armada list in 2022 for evading American sanctions on Iran. SKIPPER was sanctioned that same year by the U.S. Treasury Department for being part of an illicit oil smuggling network tied to Viktor Artemov which funded the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah, two U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations. 

Director of the UANI Tanker Tracking Program Charlie Brown added:

“The U.S. seizure deprives the Maduro regime in Venezuela and Tehran of another vessel which keeps these authoritarian governments in power. President Trump’s bold decision will also send a warning shot to the Iranian regime that his administration is prepared to seize additional Ghost Armada tankers which are evading U.S. sanctions. UANI calls upon the Trump administration and other countries around the world to sanction the Ghost Armada in its entirety under their respective national authorities.

“We likewise applaud Guyana, which notified the International Maritime Organization that they de-listed the ship following the UANI listing and American sanctions. This is exactly what all flag states should be doing.”

SKIPPER had been operating and anchoring in Iranian waters, usually near Kharg Island since late 2024, often spoofing or turning off its Automatic Identification System (AIS).

SKIPPER last loaded crude oil in Kharg Island, Iran, in February 2025 and most recently again in July 2025, subsequently transferring its cargo to another tanker, the LOUIS (9312494) near Hong Kong. SKIPPER had sailed from the Persian Gulf to Hong Kong via the Malacca and Singapore Straits, as well as loitering in the waters off Eastern Johor Malaysia.

LOUIS then delivered the Iranian oil to a “teapot refinery” in Yantai, China, on 31 AUG 2025.  Following the cargo transfer near Hong Kong, SKIPPER sailed back through the Singapore & Malacca Straits to the Gulf of Oman, loitered briefly, and then made the long voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to the vicinity of Venezuela. 

SKIPPER conducting ship-to-ship transfer operation of Iranian crude oil, in international waters about 100km south of Hong Kong, to the tanker LOUIS (9312494).  (Sentinel-2 satellite images from ESA Copernicus Browser, 2025)

Although the ship is currently broadcasting on AIS that it is Guyana-flagged, according to the IMO GISIS database, the tanker SKIPPER is falsely flying the Guyana flag and is therefore a stateless vessel. Earlier, the Guyana Flag Registry had notified the IMO that the ship was not truly registered.

Credit to Starboard Maritime Intelligence, 2025

The U.S. seizure of SKIPPER is a warning to other ship captains of the risks in participating in sanctions evading schemes. UANI will continue to monitor all Iran-linked vessels and strongly urge tough enforcement of sanctions from not only the United States but its global allies.

To view UANI’s Tanker Tracking resources, click here.