Over the past few months, the Trump administration has seized multiple tankers based on their links to trade violations. The most recent such action occurred on May 18 when U.S. naval forces in the Indian Ocean boarded and seized the Skywave, a vessel that had been previously sanctioned for its role in transporting Iranian oil. In some cases, the government has sought to civilly forfeit seized vessels and their contents in federal court. 

In April, the Windward Shipmanagement Corp., owner of one such seized vessel, the motor tanker Skipper, filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to dismiss the government's forfeiture action asserting lack of jurisdiction.

Because these ships were detained in international waters, with no nexus to the U.S., the U.S. Department of Justice has relied on an obscure statutory provision that apparently enables the government to assert subject matter jurisdiction over purely extraterritorial seizures. But this convenient legal fiction may soon face significant constitutional headwinds.

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