Oil tankers hauling Russian crude across the Black Sea are taking a roundabout route along the coastlines of Georgia and Turkey — a measure that might help them to reduce the risk of being targeted by Ukrainian sea drones.

The M/T Skipper seized by U.S. Coast Guard, was a sanctioned crude-oil tanker previously identified as part of an oil shipping network supporting Lebanese group Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, both U.S.-designated terrorist organizations.

The Trump administration plans to hold the oil tanker it seized in waters near Venezuela at an American port in Texas but release the crew once the vessel docks, according to two U.S. officials. The officials said the tanker was seized in international waters.

An oil tanker caught fire after an overnight drone attack on Russia’s southern city of Rostov, as Ukraine expands the scope of strikes on energy assets.

The cost of shipping oil is likely to remain high in the first half of 2026 as the global fleet ages and a rising number of vessels are hit with Western sanctions, shipping sources say, though rates could be capped in the second half.