The U.S. military on Thursday seized the oil tanker Majestic X in the Indian Ocean, releasing video that shows U.S. personnel aboard the vessel. The Pentagon said the action was part of ongoing global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict ships providing material support to Iran.
Ship-tracking data placed the Majestic X between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same region where U.S. forces earlier seized the tanker Tifani. The Majestic X, bound for Zhoushan, China, is flagged in Guyana and was previously named Phonix. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the vessel in 2024, alleging it smuggled Iranian crude in violation of sanctions. Iran did not immediately comment on the latest seizure.
The move comes one day after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked three cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz and captured two vessels, an escalation that has worsened disruptions in the strategic waterway that normally carries about 20% of the world’s traded oil. Iranian state television broadcast footage it said showed the capture of the container ships MSC Francesca and Epaminondas.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday extended a ceasefire while maintaining a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, and the standoff has effectively choked off much of the seaborne exports through the strait. U.S. Central Command said its forces in the Middle East had directed 31 vessels to turn around or return to port as part of the blockade, a move CENTCOM said affected more than 30 ships.
The Majestic X seizure adds to a series of interdictions and confrontations that have intensified a maritime standoff between Washington and Tehran, with no immediate resolution in sight.
