AT SEA (RELEASED FEBRUARY 9, 2026) (U.S. Department of War - No Archive / No Resales / Must on-screen courtesy U.S. Department of War)

1. U.S. MILITARY FORCES WALKING TOWARDS CHOPPER

2. CHOPPER FLYING

3. VARIOUS OF VESSEL AQUILA II SEEN FROM CHOPPER AS WEAPON IS POINTED AT IT

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

U.S. military forces boarded a crude oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after pursuing it from the Caribbean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday (February 9), accusing the vessel of breaching Washington's blockade on sanctioned vessels travelling to or from Venezuela.

Reuters confirmed the identity of the vessel from the shape, structures, cranes, design and paintwork of the deck which matched file imagery of the Aquila II.

Hegseth posted on X Monday saying the operation occurred “overnight”. It is presumed he meant U.S. hours as the video is shot in daylight. Location data from February 9, 2026 showed the vessel present in the Indian Ocean. The Defense Secretary also wrote that the vessel was tracked to the Indian Ocean.

After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid last month in Caracas, the U.S. has escalated its blockade on vessels that are under sanctions and going to and from the South American country, a member of the OPEC oil producers group.

Suezmax tanker Aquila II departed from Venezuelan waters in early January as part of a flotilla of vessels. It was carrying about 700,000 barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude bound for China, according to schedules from state company PDVSA. Most tankers in the flotilla have returned to Venezuela or have been seized by the U.S.

Hegseth said the Aquila II was operating in defiance of the U.S. "quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean."

"The Department of War tracked and hunted this vessel from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean. ..You will run out of fuel long before you will outrun us," he wrote.

It was unclear where the Aquila II was registered, according to shipping databases