Three oil tankers linked to Iran have been gradually making their way toward the U.S. after being seized by naval forces when President Donald Trump first imposed a blockade on the regime.
The Tifani and Majestic X are now off the coast of Brazil after they were boarded in the Indian Ocean in April, according to Bloomberg. A third ship, known as the Lenore as well as the Davina, just cleared the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa and is headed west into the Atlantic after being interdicted in the Indian Ocean in June.
All three tankers are very large crude carriers, which can each hold 2 million barrels of crude. Brent futures are currently trading at about $106 per barrel.
“Nearly six million barrels (valued at nearly $600M) of seized Iranian crude oil are quietly crossing the Atlantic Ocean towards the United States of America,” Tanker Trackers posted on X on Wednesday.
The U.S. initiated its naval blockade in April, targeting ships attempting to enter or leave Iranian ports. It also applied to Iran-linked vessels anywhere in the world, including the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
After a brief ceasefire lifted the blockade over the summer, Trump reimposed it weeks later as he pivot toward economic warfare and away from bombs.
Meanwhile, the legal channel the administration is using to seize the tankers and enforce forfeiture is known as prize law and has its roots in the Middle Ages.
Unlike civil seizure laws that require the U.S. government to identify a statutory violation and establish jurisdiction, prize law doesn’t require a captor to have a warrant or tie a vessel’s seizure to a violation of an existing statute.
Rather than law enforcement authorities like the Coast Guard having to seize a vessel under civil seizure laws, the Defense Department can seize an enemy vessel instead.
In the U.S., prize law appears in the Constitution, which outlines rules for capturing and confiscating enemy vessels during times of war in its Captures Clause. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln used the Prize Act of 1812 to blockade Confederate seaports. That law was most recently invoked during the Spanish-American War.
If the tankers carrying the Iranian oil do end up at a U.S. port, it would likely be along the Texas coast, which is home to top refiners and the Houston-based U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.
The office, headed by Aaron Reitz, told Bloomberg it’s ready to represent the U.S. “in adjudicating prizes” brought to Texas through federal courts.
In a statement last month to Fortune’s Sasha Rogelberg, Reitz did not specify if the Justice Department will invoke the Prize Act of 1812, the Captures Clause, or another law.
“Our national security interests may require the United States military to seize vessels or cargo supporting the enemy during military conflict. If that happens, our federal courts must be ready to adjudicate the disposition of these captured vessels and cargo,” he said. “Prize law is an ancient body of maritime law—already codified in statute but which we are now reviving—that sets the rules for how seized maritime property is condemned, returned, or disposed of.”
