Select Committee Identifies Direct Chinese Links with Seized Tanker
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent highlighting that China has become the indispensable customer and operational hub for large-scale sanctions evasion involving Venezuelan and Iranian networks. The letter commends the Trump Administration’s decisive action against the oil tanker SKIPPER and urges Treasury to review and possibly sanction the Chinese-managed tanker LUOIS and its operators.
“The U.S. government took decisive and commendable action against SKIPPER, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s recent sanctions targeting Venezuela-related evasion networks show why continued pressure is needed,” Moolenaar writes in the letter.
“Building on the strong work already done by the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies, Treasury’s firm action here would not only close the SKIPPER–LUOIS loop but also send a clear signal to Beijing and to PRC-based commercial actors that the United States will treat PRC facilitators of sanctions evasion as central drivers of these networks rather than peripheral participants. I stand ready to support Treasury with any additional information or coordination as you assess the necessary designations and guidance,” concludes Moolenaar.
On December 10, 2025, U.S. authorities seized the oil tanker SKIPPER. The vessel had been sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2022 for alleged involvement in oil trafficking linked to Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
However, the Select Committee found that the illicit oil trade enabled by SKIPPER is driven by China, which remains the primary buyer, logistical hub, and profit center for sanctioned crude oil. Satellite images in the letter show SKIPPER operated as a ghost ship in the global “dark fleet,” using false flags and manipulated tracking signals to conceal its true movements while transporting sanctioned oil. Earlier in 2025—before SKIPPER returned to Venezuelan waters in November—the Select Committee identified that the vessel transported Iranian crude oil to China and engaged in low-speed ship-to-ship transfers with the Chinese-managed tanker LUOIS in the South China Sea. Exclusive commercial imagery from Planet confirms the vessels’ co-location during that period, and the letter links those shipments to China-based delivery networks.
Read the full letter here.
Satellite imagery verifies SKIPPER (left) and LUOIS (right) positioned side by side in the South China Sea on August 13, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC)