Three VLCCs stopped under the Iran blockade head across the Atlantic towards the US
Tifani, Majestic X and Lenore carry about six million barrels of Iranian crude, worth roughly $600m
Three VLCCs stopped by US forces under the blockade of Iran are on the move towards the United States, carrying an estimated six million barrels of Iranian crude worth roughly $600m. TankerTrackers.com flagged the voyage on 23 September, writing that the seized oil was "quietly crossing the Atlantic Ocean", and ship-tracking data from Kpler and others has since identified the tankers.
Two are Tifani, IMO 9273337, a 300,000 dwt tanker falsely claiming Botswana registry, and Majestic X, IMO 9198317, a 281,500 dwt tanker falsely claiming Guyana registry. Both were stopped in the Indian Ocean in April, two days apart, after loading Iranian crude and leaving the Persian Gulf before the blockade was imposed. They have been detected sailing north along the coast of Brazil.
The third is the 300,976 dwt Davina, listed in most databases as Lenore. She was claiming a false Curacao registry, and before that Palau, when she was stopped off Sri Lanka in June; Kpler data shows her rounding the Cape of Good Hope into the Atlantic. Only Majestic X has shown the United States as a destination, briefly in late July. Majestic X and Tifani are a few weeks from US waters, with Texas the likely destination; Lenore will take longer.
The Pentagon said the ships were stopped under the right of visit, as sanctioned stateless vessels, and the Department of Homeland Security later inspected them. At the end of August the administration moved to re-establish a prize court, the special tribunal that rules on the seizure and forfeiture of enemy merchant ships. US Central Command said that as of 25 September it had redirected 122 commercial vessels under the blockade. Another VLCC it stopped, the 302,481 dwt Skywave, IMO 9328716, intercepted in May between Malaysia and Sri Lanka, has not been accounted for.
Washington has forfeited Iranian cargoes before. In 2023 it seized the crude aboard Suez Rajan, discharged it in the United States and let the ship sail on as St Nikolas; Iran seized St Nikolas in the Gulf in January 2024, took her cargo and said it had been sold as compensation. The US also won a court order to seize and sell the empty tanker Bella 1, which went to a cash buyer for recycling.
Iran calls the blockade and the seizures piracy and has made lifting the blockade a condition for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 28 September 2026.
Ships in this story
