U.s. Forces Board Sanctioned Oil Tanker

The USS Abraham Lincoln conducts U.S. blockade operations in the Arabian Sea, April 16, 2026. (Photo via Navy/U.S. Department of War)

U.S. forces boarded a sanctioned tanker in the Indo-Pacific region overnight, the Department of War (DOW) said Tuesday.

In an X post, the DOW stated the U.S. conducted without incident “a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction” of the vessel M/T Tifani, which it referred to as “stateless.”

“As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran–anywhere they operate,” the department said.

“International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels. The Department of War will continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain,” it added.

According to international law, stateless vessels do not have sovereign protections, and under U.S. law they can be subject to boarding, search and seizure.

Ship tracking data shows the vessel was in between Sri Lanka and Singapore in the Indian Ocean and has been previously sanctioned for smuggling Iranian oil. 

This comes after U.S. forces seized an Iranian flagged ship that attempted to run the U.S. blockade in the Gulf of Oman over the weekend. Since April 13th, the U.S. has implemented a blockade of Iranian ports, and in a Thursday Join Maritime Information Center (JMIC) advisory, a broader “right to visit and search” certain vessels by the U.S. Navy was stated.

“In addition to enforcing the blockade, all Iranian vessels, vessels with active OFAC sanctions, and vessels suspected of carrying contraband, are subject to belligerent right to visit and search,” the advisory warned. “These vessels, regardless of location, are subject to visit, board, search, and seizure.”