What happened

US military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the sanctioned tanker Aquila II in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean. The Pentagon said the operation occurred without incident and described the vessel as defying a US quarantine on sanctioned shipping. Associated Press reported that the Panamanian-flagged tanker was being held while US authorities decided its fate, but had not been formally seized or placed under permanent US control. AP also reported that ship data did not show the tanker carrying crude at the time of the boarding. Aquila II, IMO 9281152 and previously reported under the name Cape Balder, had been sanctioned by the United States over alleged transport of Russian oil and was subsequently listed by several other jurisdictions; Ukrainian intelligence reporting also linked it to Venezuelan petroleum movements. No damage, casualties or pollution were reported. The marker is an approximate Indian Ocean reference because officials did not disclose the boarding coordinates.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.