U.S. Forces Intercept Sanctioned Tanker in Indian Ocean After Caribbean Pursuit

U.S. military personnel boarded a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel across the Atlantic from the Caribbean Sea, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Pentagon. The action marks the third time American forces have interdicted a tanker connected to Venezuela’s clandestine petroleum network since December.

Southern Command reported on the social platform X that troops executed a “right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding” of the tanker Bertha during an overnight operation. The Cook Islands-flagged ship, already listed under U.S. sanctions related to Iran, was described as operating in violation of a December 2025 White House order that bars blacklisted tankers from entering or transiting the Caribbean.

Video distributed by the Defense Department shows helicopters approaching the Bertha before armed personnel rappelled onto the deck. The Pentagon did not specify whether the vessel was seized or diverted to a U.S.-controlled port, stating only that the crew was questioned and cargo documentation inspected.

Expanded Quarantine Policy

Then-President Donald Trump authorized what the administration termed a “quarantine” on 14 December 2025, instructing U.S. naval and air assets to identify, track and, when warranted, board tankers believed to be moving Venezuelan crude in defiance of existing sanctions. Officials said the policy is intended to curtail revenue streams to Caracas by disrupting a fleet of vessels that routinely falsify registries, disable transponders and conduct ship-to-ship transfers outside normal shipping lanes.

Washington first imposed oil sanctions on Caracas in 2019. Over time, an informal network of more than 40 tankers, frequently reflagged or operating under shell companies, emerged to keep Venezuelan barrels flowing into global markets. Analysts have noted that many of those same ships subsequently engaged in trades involving sanctioned Iranian or Russian cargoes.

The Bertha, constructed in 2004 and measuring roughly 300 meters in length, has appeared on several public watchlists since mid-2024. Treasury Department records indicate the vessel was designated in connection with Iranian petroleum shipments, placing it on the Office of Foreign Assets Control list that restricts American entities from providing services such as insurance, bunkering or repairs.

Pursuit From the Caribbean

U.S. officials said the Bertha was first detected in late January near the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, an area frequently used for illicit transshipments. After the ship departed westbound, a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and a Coast Guard cutter shadowed the voyage as it rounded the southern tip of Africa and entered the Indian Ocean. The interdiction occurred approximately 400 nautical miles east of the Seychelles.

A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because details remain classified, said the crew failed to produce consistent cargo and routing documents. “The manifest listed lubricants and industrial solvents, but sampling of several tanks suggested crude blends consistent with Venezuelan origin,” the official stated.

Right-of-visit boardings are permissible under international law when a vessel is stateless, lacks proper documentation or is reasonably suspected of engaging in illicit activity. The United States applied that doctrine during comparable operations in 2020 and 2021 targeting shipments of Iranian fuel bound for Venezuela.

Imagem: imagem internet 7

Connection to Maduro Arrest

The boarding comes weeks after former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was transferred to U.S. custody. Special forces detained Maduro outside Caracas on 17 January; he later appeared in federal court in New York to face charges of collaborating with drug traffickers and facilitating multi-ton cocaine deliveries to the United States. He has pleaded not guilty.

Administration officials argue the maritime campaign tightens pressure on remnants of Maduro’s political network by denying access to export earnings. Critics, including several Latin American governments, have questioned the extraterritorial scope of the quarantine, but the State Department maintains that U.N. Security Council resolutions and domestic statutes provide adequate legal basis.

Previous Boardings

The Bertha interception follows two earlier interdictions since the quarantine order took effect:

• On 29 December, U.S. sailors boarded the Panama-flagged Ocean Star near the Lesser Antilles. The tanker was escorted to Puerto Rico, where its 1.1 million barrels of crude remain under court review.
• On 9 February, the Liberian-registered Marisol was stopped southwest of Cape Verde. That ship carried 950,000 barrels of fuel oil suspected to have originated in Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt.

International Reaction

In a brief statement, the Cook Islands Maritime Authority said it had been informed of the incident and was “evaluating the flag status” of the Bertha. No injuries were reported. The crew, comprising nationals from five countries, is being interviewed by U.S. and allied officials.

The Indian Ocean operation underscores a broader shift toward what security analysts describe as “global maritime enforcement.” A recent report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies notes that long-range interdictions are increasingly common as nations seek to police sanctions evasion far from their own waters.

The Pentagon indicated additional actions could follow if other sanctioned vessels attempt to navigate beyond the Caribbean quarantine zone. “From the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, we tracked it and stopped it,” Southern Command wrote in its post, echoing language used after the December and February boardings.

Crédito da imagem: U.S. Department of Defense