The tanker had spent about six weeks hiding some 20 miles southwest of Sri Lanka with its anchor down. Then U.S. helicopters arrived. On June 5, 2026, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command announced that forces had carried out a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding of the sanctioned stateless vessel MT Davina in the Indian Ocean.
“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks,” INDOPACOM said in a post on X.
A ship with false papers
INDOPACOM named the 300,976 dwt tanker as Davina, though most databases list it as Lenore. It claims a registry in Curacao that is false, and it had earlier claimed to sail under the Palau flag, which was also untrue. Built in 2004, it was listed as sold in October 2024 to unknown buyers and operators. The United States sanctioned it that same month over its role in the Iranian oil trade.
TankerTrackers.com said the ship carried 1.9 million barrels of Iranian crude, loaded on March 20 at Kharg Island. By the tracker’s count, it has moved roughly 20 million barrels of Iranian oil since 2024. It left the Gulf before the U.S. blockade began.
Maritime Executive said images of the operation showed helicopters putting boarding teams on the vessel. A Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base from the U.S. Navy appeared in the background.
Third in two months
The Davina is the third stateless tanker INDOPACOM has reported seizing since mid-April. The U.S. took the Tifani on April 21. Two days later, on April 23, it stopped the Majestic X, also known as Phonix. Both were in the Indian Ocean or the Bay of Bengal. The Wall Street Journal reported a fourth, the Skywave (aka Blue Gulf), stopped in May, though the Pentagon never formally acknowledged it.
CENTCOM said the same day that U.S. forces had redirected a total of 129 commercial vessels and disabled 6 to enforce the blockade of Iranian shipping and ports.
Sources
- US Forces Board Sanctioned Stateless Tanker Carrying Iranian Oil
- US interdicts stateless sanctioned tanker sailing from Iran to China
