US boards Iran-linked tanker in Indian Ocean, vows pursuit of 'ghost fleet'
The Pentagon said that "international waters are not a refuge" for vessels under US economic sanctions.
WASHINGTON — US troops boarded a tanker ship in the Indian Ocean overnight into Tuesday morning, officials said, on the US military's second interdiction of an Iran-linked vessel in international waters in days.
US forces “conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding” of the M/T Tifani, which the Pentagon described as a stateless vessel currently under US economic sanctions for its role in Iran’s so-called ghost fleet of oil-smuggling ships.
The Tifani, which maritime data firm Kpler listed as flagged under Botswana, was intercepted by a US Navy expeditionary base ship near the Bay of Bengal while laden with Iranian oil, a US official speaking not for attribution told Al-Monitor. A contingent of US forces including special operations personnel descended from helicopters onto the deck of the ship.
Pentagon officials did not say whether the ship was seized or if any action was taken to confiscate its cargo. Open-source tracking data suggested the Tifani was continuing on toward its advertised destination of Singapore after the encounter.
