US boards another vessel from Russia's shadow fleet
The U.S. military boarded the Aquila II oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after pursuing it from the Caribbean, the Pentagon announced on Feb. 9, marking the latest case in Washington's crackdown on the Venezuelan oil trade.
"When the @DeptofWar says quarantine, we mean it," the Defense Department said on X, reporting that the boarding took place "without incident."
The vessel is part of the "shadow fleet," a group of tankers used by Moscow to export crude and petroleum products in violation of international sanctions, according to Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR).
Officials and experts have also linked the fleet to Russian-backed hybrid operations and warned that its condition poses significant environmental risks due to a higher likelihood of oil spills.
When the @DeptofWar says quarantine, we mean it. Nothing will stop DoW from defending our Homeland — even in oceans halfway around the world.
— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) February 9, 2026
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
The ship, falsely flying the flag of Panama, has been sanctioned by the U.S., the U.K., the EU, Ukraine, and others after it illicitly transported Russian and Venezuelan oil, HUR says.
The Suezmax tanker Aquilla II left the Venezuelan waters in early January while carrying 700,000 barrels of crude to China, Reuters reported, citing data from Venezuela's state oil and gas company PDVSA.
The ship "was operating in defiance of President (Donald) Trump's established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean," the U.S. Defense Department said, promising it would "deny illicit actors and their proxies the ability to defy American power in the global maritime domain."
U.S. authorities have detained several Russia-linked shadow tankers in recent months as part of a crackdown on the Venezuelan oil trade, including a vessel sailing under a Russian flag that the U.S. determined was falsely registered and therefore stateless.
European governments have also moved to tighten countermeasures against the shadow fleet, with France briefly detaining a Russia-linked tanker in the Mediterranean in January.
Fourteen European countries issued a coordinated warning on Jan. 26 that ships sailing in the Baltic Sea and North Sea under multiple flags could be treated as stateless vessels.
