US military boards 'defiant oil tanker' in Indian Ocean

The US military has boarded a “sanctioned crude oil tanker” in the Indian Ocean after pursuing it from the Caribbean, the Pentagon announced, accusing the vessel of defying Washington’s blockade on Venezuela-linked shipping.

“Overnight, US military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident,” the Pentagon said in a post on X on Monday.

According to the statement, the tanker was operating “in defiance of President Donald Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean” and attempted to evade US forces.

The Department of Defence said the vessel was tracked across multiple regions, with US forces pursuing it from the Caribbean into the Indian Ocean, where the boarding took place in the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility.

The Pentagon did not provide details on the tanker’s ownership, cargo, or current status following the boarding, nor did it say whether any crew members were detained.

The US has conducted what it calls Operation Southern Spear, which began in September 2025, a military and counter-narcotics campaign in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that has also escalated tensions with Venezuela. 

In January, the US Treasury Department eased sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector, as the Trump administration looks to “ramp up investment and production” in the country after abducting its president, Nicolas Maduro, but continued with its blockade on Venezuela-linked shipping.