The U.S. Department of Justice is planning to revive a long-dormant maritime legal mechanism to accelerate the processing of Iranian and affiliated tankers intercepted and seized by the U.S. military. According to sources familiar with the matter, once activated, this procedure—known as a prize court—would allow federal prosecutors to more swiftly designate cargoes such as oil on vessels of enemy nations or neutral ships as U.S. property, subsequently liquidating them through auctions and depositing the proceeds into the national treasury.

The direct backdrop to this move is the U.S. naval blockade against Iran. Since the spring of this year, the U.S. military has intercepted multiple vessels suspected of being linked to Iran at sea. However, relying on conventional civil forfeiture procedures to dispose of these assets often faces legal pushback from shipping companies and other third-party claimants, resulting in an extremely protracted liquidation process. Take the recent seizure of a Venezuelan supertanker linked to Iran as an example: the involvement of multiple parties has caused severe delays in judicial disposal. Therefore, the U.S. is attempting to bypass these cumbersome litigation hurdles, streamline the fund transfer process, and offset the high costs incurred by military operations by reviving the prize courts.

Although this initiative has received coordinated support from the U.S. Department of Defense, its implementation prospects remain highly uncertain. Maritime legal experts point out that prize courts were primarily active during the naval battles of the 18th and 19th centuries, were rarely used after the Spanish-American War in the late 19th century, and were completely shelved after World War II. Modern international law and the laws of war have undergone profound changes, and the applicability of these archaic rules in contemporary times will undoubtedly spark fierce courtroom debates. Furthermore, shipowners and various claimants are expected to launch intensive legal challenges. For the U.S. judicial system, the Navy, and federal courts, which are accustomed to modern civil forfeiture procedures, the lack of experience in adjudicating modern prize cases also poses a significant practical challenge.

This marks the second time this year that U.S. authorities have employed such obscure judicial tools to advance geopolitical objectives. As conventional economic sanctions extend toward the confiscation of war assets, the strategic energy competition between the U.S. and Iran is taking on new characteristics. The energy export lifelines of relevant countries, as well as the disposal methods for the overseas energy assets of future adversaries, may all face new variables amid the revival of this archaic mechanism.