In a dramatic maritime operation, U.S. military forces have boarded a third oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it all the way from the Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon confirmed this week. The move underscores a growing international effort — backed by the Trump administration’s sanctions policy — to stop vessels trying to slip through global loopholes to transport oil that’s been sanctioned by the United States.
According to an official statement from the Department of Defense posted on X (formerly Twitter), the vessel — identified as the Bertha — was operating in defiance of a quarantine imposed on sanctioned tankers visiting or leaving Venezuela. U.S. forces tracked the ship across vast ocean distances before safely boarding it in waters under the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s area of responsibility.
Video clips shared by the Pentagon show military helicopters fast-roping personnel onto the tanker during the overnight operation, which resulted in no reported injuries or major resistance. The action makes this the third tanker interdicted in the Indian Ocean this month, and the tenth vessel interdicted or seized overall since Washington stepped up its enforcement of sanction-related measures late last year.
The Bertha is believed to have been carrying nearly 1.9 million barrels of heavy crude oil — reportedly linked to Venezuelan supplies — and has been flagged under different national registries in an apparent effort to disguise its true origins and ownership. Tracking data and maritime analysts suggest it had been part of a so-called “shadow fleet” of vessels that help sanctioned oil reach global markets.
Officials say these operations are meant to send a clear message that sanctioned actors cannot evade international pressure by sailing across oceans, and that the U.S. military has the reach and resolve to enforce compliance — even far from its own shores. For many observers, this signals a tougher and more globally coordinated phase in sanction enforcement and maritime law.
While this latest boarding is a notable moment in international security and sanctions enforcement, it also highlights how interconnected global economies and energy markets are — and how efforts to regulate them can ripple across continents and seas.
