U.S. Forces boarded and seized an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, February 15, 2026, according to a statement released by the U.S. Navy. The tanker is reported to be sanctioned for links to Venezuela’s oil trade.
The seizure is the latest in a series of actions taken by the United States as part of Operation Southern Spear, a blockade enacted on December 17, 2025, targeting sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela. The operation began a week after the U.S. Seized the oil tanker Skipper in the Caribbean Sea on December 10, 2025.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines, and the U.S. Army’s 160th SOAR(A) are all involved in executing the blockade. The United Kingdom is providing support through the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. To date, nine oil tankers have been intercepted by the United States, according to official reports.
Prior to the formal blockade, the Skipper had been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2022 for alleged involvement in a shadow fleet of vessels connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah. On January 7, 2026, U.S. Forces also boarded and seized the Russian oil tanker Marinera (formerly Bella 1) near Iceland and the Panama-flagged M Sophia in the Caribbean Sea. Both Marinera and M Sophia were also previously sanctioned by the Treasury Department.
The recent seizures follow a period of escalating tensions with Venezuela, culminating in large-scale military strikes on Caracas and surrounding areas on January 3, 2026, in an operation named “Absolute Resolve.” President Donald Trump announced the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were transported to New York and charged with narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns. Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty.
Financial intelligence firm S&P Global estimates that approximately one in five oil tankers worldwide are used to smuggle oil from sanctioned countries. The U.S. Has been increasingly focused on disrupting this “shadow fleet” network, which facilitates illicit oil trade between Iran, Russia, China, and Venezuela. The Pentagon has stated its intention to “hunt down and interdict ALL dark fleet vessels transporting Venezuelan oil at the time and place of our choosing.”
The legal basis for the seizures and the disposition of the seized tankers remain subjects of ongoing discussion. The U.S. Government has not yet announced plans for the seized vessels or clarified the long-term strategy for enforcing the oil blockade.
