Video shows US military seizure of sanctioned VLCC carrying Iranian crude

US forces have stopped and seized a very large crude carrier (VLCC) in the Indian Ocean, according to the former US Department of Defense, known as the Department of War under the Trump administration.

The 300,000-dwt tanker, which can carry up to 2M barrels of oil, is listed as a sanctioned asset in the Open Sanctions database.

The vessel reportedly loaded at Iran’s Kharg Island on 5 April, during a 30-day waiver period that the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had initiiated on 20 March, but the Department of War said in a post on X that it will "continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain".

"Overnight, US forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the stateless sanctioned M/T Tifani without incident in the INDOPACOM (Indo-Pacific Command) area of responsibility.
As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran—anywhere they operate.
International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels," the post said.

The vessel is listed in vessel database Equasis as having an unknown flag and in others as flying the flag of Botswana. Ownership details list a Suriname-based entity called World Crew Provider. 

According to vessel tracking software, the vessel was seized between Sri Lanka and Malaysia in the Indian Ocean, south of the Bay of Bengal. 

Russian oil waiver extended

The US administration has renewed an authorisation allowing countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea, despite earlier indications that such an extension was unlikely.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) initially issued the temporary authorisation in March, with an expiry date of 11 April.

Speaking at the White House on 15 April, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had ruled out extending the licence.

However, in a decision announced on 17 April, OFAC authorised the delivery and sale of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels – including those subject to sanctions – until 16 May.

The OFAC waiver explicitly prohibits "Any transaction involving a person located in or organized under the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran" among others despite Iranian oil receiving a temporary, 30 day waiver that expired on 19 April.