U.S. Military Intercepts Sanctioned Oil Tanker In Indian Ocean

The U.S. military tracked down and boarded a crude oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after it evaded an American blockade in the Caribbean, the Department of War said Monday. 

The vessel, the Aquila II, was boarded without incident as American forces “conducted a right-of-vist” and maritime interdiction, the department said. The boarding comes as the United States has seized at least seven tankers linked to sanctioned Venezuelan oil. 

“When the [Department of War] says quarantine, we mean it. Nothing will stop DoW from defending our Homeland — even in oceans halfway around the world,” the department posted on X. “The Aquila II was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean. It ran, and we followed. The Department of War tracked and hunted this vessel from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean.”

A video released by the department showed American troops rappelling from a helicopter to board the ship. 

When the @DeptofWar says quarantine, we mean it. Nothing will stop DoW from defending our Homeland — even in oceans halfway around the world.

Overnight, U.S. military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident in the… pic.twitter.com/kYVAQC5io9

— Department of War ???????? (@DeptofWar) February 9, 2026

“No other nation on planet Earth has the capability to enforce its will through any domain. By land, air, or sea, our Armed Forces will find you and deliver justice. You will run out of fuel long before you will outrun us,” the department said. “The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies the ability to defy American power in the global maritime domain.”

The Aquilla II reportedly left Venezuela in early January carrying 700,000 barrels of heavy crude in defiance of the American blockade, bound for China. 

President Donald Trump imposed a blockade on all sanctioned oil tanker vessels leaving Venezuela on December 16. After the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, the Department of War and the Coast Guard have continued to seize tankers that evaded the embargo. 

Reuters reported in January that the Trump administration had filed for warrants to seize dozens more oil tankers linked to the Venezuelan crude trade. 

Trump has said that American oil companies will invest tens of billions of dollars to rebuild Venezuela’s oil fields. The United States has already sold around $500 million worth of Venezuelan oil and sent the money back to the country at the direction of the American government.