US military boards sanctioned oil tanker in Indian Ocean after overnight pursuit

(TNND) — The Department of War announced on Monday that U.S. military forces “tracked and hunted” a vessel overnight after it defied a quarantine order on sanctioned ships from the Trump administration.

On social media, the department noted it “conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction” and boarded the Aquila II “without incident” after the vessel ran from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean.

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

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 continued. “The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies the ability to defy American power in the global maritime domain.

The department included footage of troops descending ropes to board the vessel as a helicopter hovered above.

The Trump administration has been set on controlling production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products since Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was taken in the surprise nighttime raid on Jan. 3.

The president has also been trying to restrict the flow of oil to Cuba, which relies heavily on oil shipments from allies like Mexico, Russia and Venezuela.

Trump recently signed an executive order declaring a national emergency and imposing a tariff on goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba.

At least seven sanctioned oil tankers have been taken by U.S. forces since December in Operation Southern Spear.

In January, the U.S. signaled it would hand over the Panama-flagged supertanker M/T Sophia to Venezuelan authorities. A reason why the tanker was being returned was not provided.

Coast Guard and U.S. military forces interdicted the Sophia on Jan. 7, according to U.S. Southern Command, which described it as “a stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker.”