Iran-Linked Oil Tankers Sail West After Boarding by US

By Julian Lee

Apr 27, 2026 (Bloomberg) –Two Iran-linked oil tankers that US forces interdicted near Sri Lanka last week are now sailing west.

US forces carried out “maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding” of two oil supertankers, the Tifani and the Phonix on April 21 and 23 respectively, the Pentagon said last week, without elaborating what would happen next to the vessels. The latter ship is also known as the Majestic X.

Both appear to be crossing the Indian Ocean westbound in quite close proximity to one another, digital signals from the two carriers indicate.

The US has given no formal indication of what it intends to do with either. They are still signaling the same destinations in Asia as they were when the interdictions happened, adding to the confusion about where they’re going now.

Cape Town, at the southern tip of Africa, would be a standard waypoint for ships sailing onward to the US. Equally, they are heading in the direction of the UK-controled Chagos archipelago, where there’s an American military base at Diego Garcia. 

When the US carried out a similar blockade in Venezuela, some of the Latin American country’s shipments were interdicted in the Caribbean Sea and diverted to American ports and terminals.

The US cordon of Iran’s shipping began on April 13 and followed Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to US and Israeli attacks that began at the end of February. 

Shipping signals can be manipulated, although that doesn’t look to have been the case for either the Tifani or the Phonix.

US Central Command didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.

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