US military forces boarded a sanctioned crude oil tanker in the Indian Ocean on Monday after pursuing it from the Caribbean, the Pentagon announced, accusing the vessel of defying Washington's blockade on Venezuela-linked shipping.
"Overnight, U.S. military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident," the Pentagon said in a post on US social media company X.
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 Defense 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.
