U.S. forces board the stateless tanker\u00a0Tifani\u00a0(IMO: 9273337) without incident inside the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility. Photo from Department of War video<\/p>\n
Iran-Linked Oil Tankers Sail West After Boarding by US<\/p>\n
Apr 27, 2026 (Bloomberg) \u2013Two Iran-linked oil tankers that US forces interdicted near Sri Lanka last week are now sailing west.<\/p>\n
US forces carried out \u201cmaritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding\u201d of two oil supertankers, the<\/p>\n
on April 21 and 23 respectively, the Pentagon said last week, without elaborating what would happen next to the vessels. The latter ship is also known as the<\/p>\n
Both appear to be crossing the Indian Ocean westbound in quite close proximity to one another, digital signals from the two carriers indicate.<\/p>\n
The US has given no formal indication of what it intends to do with either. They are still signaling the same destinations in Asia as they were when the interdictions happened, adding to the confusion about where they\u2019re going now.<\/p>\n
Cape Town, at the southern tip of Africa, would be a standard waypoint for ships sailing onward to the US. Equally, they are heading in the direction of the UK-controled Chagos archipelago, where there\u2019s an American military base at Diego Garcia.<\/p>\n
When the US carried out a similar blockade in Venezuela, some of the Latin American country\u2019s shipments were interdicted in the Caribbean Sea and diverted to American ports and terminals.<\/p>\n
The US cordon of Iran\u2019s shipping began on April 13 and followed Tehran\u2019s<\/p>\n
closure of the Strait of Hormuz<\/p>\n
in response to US and Israeli attacks that began at the end of February.<\/p>\n
Shipping signals can be manipulated, although that doesn\u2019t look to have been the case for either the<\/p>\n
US Central Command didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a02026\u00a0Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n