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US forces hunt down and board tanker ship defying Trump admin quarantine
By Alex Nitzberg, Brooke Singman
Published February 09, 2026
The War Department announced on Monday morning that the U.S. military boarded a vessel overnight "without incident."
The department's post on X noted that the U.S. had "hunted" the ship, called the Aquila II, "from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean."
"When the @DeptofWar says quarantine, we mean it. Nothing will stop DoW from defending our Homeland — even in oceans halfway around the world. Overnight, U.S. military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility," the Monday post explained.
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The War Department noted that the U.S. boarded the Aquila II after hunting it "from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean." (Department of War/X)
"The Aquila II was operating in defiance of President Trump's established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean. It ran, and we followed. The Department of War tracked and hunted this vessel from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean," the post continued.
"No other nation on planet Earth has the capability to enforce its will through any domain. By land, air, or sea, our Armed Forces will find you and deliver justice. You will run out of fuel long before you will outrun us," the department asserted.
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The War Department said U.S. forces boarded the ship. (Department of War/X)
"The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies the ability to defy American power in the global maritime domain," the post concluded.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth reposted the War Department's post on X.
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The War Department noted that the U.S. boarded the Aquila II. (Department of War/X)
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The department's post included footage of troops descending a rope to board the vessel from a hovering helicopter.
"The successful interdiction of the Aquila II underscores the unmatched reach and resolve of the United States military under President Trump’s and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership. As we've publicly stated, our quarantine measures are ironclad, and no vessel defying them can evade justice, whether in the Caribbean or the far reaches of the Indian Ocean," Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"The Department of War will continue to project power across every domain to safeguard our homeland and deter illicit actors worldwide," Wilson added.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-forces-hunt-down-board-tanker-ship-defying-trump-admin-quarantine