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In an overnight operation, the US forces intercepted the sanctioned stateless oil tanker Davina in the Indian Ocean. The development was confirmed by the US military’s Indo-Pacific Command. It also shared a video showing the US forces boarding the oil tanker.

The action by the US forces is in alignment with the US naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, preventing ships from entering and leaving Iranian ports.

“Overnight, U.S. forces carried out a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding of the sanctioned stateless vessel MT DAVINA located in the Indian Ocean within the INDOPACOM area of responsibility. We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” the US Indo-Pacific Command said in its X post.

“International waters cannot be used as a shield by sanctioned actors. The Department of War will continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain,” it further added.

The supertanker was sanctioned in 2024 by the US Treasury, reported AFP. As per the US Treasury, it had delivered oil from Iran to China.

The Davina is reportedly capable of carrying up to two million barrels of crude oil. The vessel was last seen on June 5 off Sri Lanka’s southern coast, reported the Independent, citing MarineTraffic data released on Friday.

Also Read: Hellfire Missile Explained: Weapon US Military Used to Disable Ship Moving Towards Iran

Notably, since the start of the war in the Middle East on February 28 following airstrikes by the US and Israel on Tehran, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has imposed a virtual blockade in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. In response, the US also imposed a naval blockade in the key waterway in April this year. For the unversed, before the start of the war, the Strait of Hormuz accounted for 20 per cent of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas trade.

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