US forces board sanctioned vessel in Asia-Pacific after Caribbean pursuit

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US boarded a sanctioned crude oil tanker in the Asia-Pacific after tracking it from the Caribbean, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.

“Overnight, U.S. forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the Bertha without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility,” it said on US social media company X.

The vessel, known as the Bertha, is a Cook Islands-flagged tanker linked to the transportation of sanctioned Iranian oil, according to Open Sanctions data. Washington sanctioned it in December 2024 because of its ties to the Shanghai Legendary Ship Management Company Limited, a Chinese firm under US sanctions whose fleet has been involved "in the illegal transportation of millions of barrels of Iranian oil since at least 2022."

"From the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, we tracked it and stopped it," said the Pentagon, warning that "international waters are not a refuge for sanctioned actors."

The interdiction is the third in a series of maritime operations. Two other vessels, the sanctioned oil tanker Veronica III and the crude oil tanker Aquila II, were previously intercepted in the same region. "Three boats ran and now all three have been captured," said the Pentagon.