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US military forces boarded a crude oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday, accusing the vessel of violating Washington’s blockade on sanctioned ships linked to Venezuela
"Overnight, US military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility," Hegseth wrote in a post 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," he added.
He said 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 of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies the ability to defy American power in the global maritime domain," he said.
In a separate statement, Pentagon on Monday said US forces boarded and seized an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean that violated President Trump's blockade of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean and fled the region.
"US forces seized" the ship,
AFP quoted the Pentagon as saying, after announcing on X that the Aquila II was boarded "without incident" following a chase that led from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean.
After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid last month in Caracas, the US has escalated its blockade on vessels that are under sanctions and going to and from the South American country, a member of the OPEC oil producers group.
With inputs from agencies
"Overnight, US military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility," Hegseth wrote in a post on X.
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
"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," he added.
He said 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 of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies the ability to defy American power in the global maritime domain," he said.
In a separate statement, Pentagon on Monday said US forces boarded and seized an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean that violated President Trump's blockade of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean and fled the region.
"US forces seized" the ship,
After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid last month in Caracas, the US has escalated its blockade on vessels that are under sanctions and going to and from the South American country, a member of the OPEC oil producers group.
The Suezmax tanker Aquila II left Venezuelan waters in early January as part of a flotilla of vessels carrying heavy crude for China, according to schedules from state oil company PDVSA.
The ship was loaded with roughly 700,000 barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude bound for Chinese refineries.
Most of the tankers in that flotilla have since either returned to Venezuela or been intercepted and seized by US forces as part of enforcement actions against vessels linked to sanctioned Venezuelan oil exports.
It remained unclear where the Aquila II was officially registered, according to shipping databases.
With inputs from agencies
