00:00Breaking tonight, the United States has intercepted and boarded a sanctioned Russian-linked oil
00:29tanker in the Indian Ocean after a months-long global pursuit, Pentagon officials say.
00:35The Panama flagged Aquila II, part of what U.S. authorities called the Shadow Fleet,
00:40was tracked from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean for violating oil sanctions and attempting
00:45to evade U.S. forces. According to the Pentagon, American military forces executed a right-of-visit
00:52maritime interdiction and boarded the vessel overnight without incident in Indo-Pacific
00:58Command waters. Officials said Aquila II had been operating in defiance of a quarantine
01:04on sanctioned tankers originally imposed in the Caribbean region.
01:09The operation marked yet another chapter in the U.S. campaign against illicit oil shipments.
01:16The tanker was carrying hundreds of thousands of barrels of Venezuelan crude bound for China,
01:21a route officials say is used to dodge sanctions on Russia and Venezuela.
01:25U.S. officials described the pursuit as one of the longest maritime enforcement actions
01:31in recent memory, following the vessel thousands of miles after it fled the Caribbean Sea to avoid
01:37capture. Supporters hailed the operation as proof of U.S. naval reach and resolved to uphold
01:43international sanctions. Critics, however, argue the interception could raise legal questions
01:49about operations on the high seas and U.S. enforcement of its own sanctions regime.
01:55This latest interdiction is the eighth in a broader campaign targeting vessels linked to sanctioned oil
02:01exports, particularly those involving Russian and Venezuelan crude. Earlier this year, U.S. forces seized
02:07the Maranera after a weeks-long Atlantic pursuit. That vessel had previously slipped through U.S. maritime
02:13blockades and rebuffed boardings. Russian military vessels, including a submarine, were reported near
02:21that earlier seizure, though no direct clashes occurred, deepening geopolitical tension. The targeted
02:28interdiction comes amid wider Western efforts to choke off revenues for sanctioned regimes, as shadow
02:33fleets turn off tracking systems and employ deceptive tactics to hide shipments.
02:38The sinking of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a U.S. special forces raid earlier this year
02:45sent several shadow tankers fleeing, prompting stepped-up maritime enforcement. As the Aquila II
02:52remains in U.S. custody, world capitals are watching closely the latest high-stakes move in a widening
02:58geopolitical struggle over energy, sanctions, and maritime law.
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