U.S forces intercepted and boarded a sanctioned and stateless supertanker, MT Davina, in the Indian Ocean on Thursday, as part of the naval blockade aimed at preventing Iran from exporting its crude oil and choking its economy.
Naval personnel and special forces from the mobile landing platform ship USS John L. Canley (ESB-6) boarded the MT Davina, according to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
The tanker, which also operated as MT Lenore, was found 20 miles southwest of Sri Lanka, where it had reportedly been hiding for a month and a half.
The Trump administration had placed the vessel on the list of sanctioned vessels in 2024 for its continuous involvement in Iranian oil smuggling operations.
According to reports, the tanker had shipped roughly 20 million barrels of illicit oil over the past 2 years.
U.S forces intercepted and boarded a sanctioned and stateless supertanker, MT Davina, in the Indian Ocean on Thursday, as part of the naval blockade aimed at preventing Iran from exporting its crude oil and choking its economy.
Naval personnel and special forces from the mobile landing platform ship USS John L. Canley (ESB-6) boarded the MT Davina, according to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
The tanker, which also operated as MT Lenore, was found 20 miles southwest of Sri Lanka, where it had reportedly been hiding for a month and a half.
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) said that it was sailing under a false Curacaoan flag and had used a false registry from Palau to evade sanctions.
The Trump administration had placed the vessel on the list of sanctioned vessels in 2024 for its continuous involvement in Iranian oil smuggling operations.
At the time of interdiction, the vessel was found to be carrying 1.9 million barrels of Iranian crude oil, loaded at Iran’s Kharg Island terminal on March 20, just before the U.S. enforced the naval blockade of Iranian ports.
According to reports, the tanker had shipped roughly 20 million barrels of illicit oil over the past 2 years.
After this incident, U.S Central Command confirmed that American forces had disabled 2 more ships over the last 14 days, trying to sail past the American blockade.
According to data compiled by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a non-profit policy organisation, the economic impact of the US blockade has been devastating for Tehran.
The agency said that Iran’s total oil exports fell by more than 90% in May, with the total shipments recorded being just 2.01 million barrels for the entire month, a 93% decline from April’s figures.
In the long run, this could create funding shortages for the IRGC, and Iran could also run out of storage space for its crude.
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