Venezuela had faced US sanctions on its oil and relied on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. Following the US raid to apprehend then-president Nicolas Maduro in early January, several tankers fled the Venezuelan coast, including the ship that was boarded in the Indian Ocean overnight.

Hegseth vowed to eventually capture all those ships, telling a group of shipyard workers in Maine on Monday that “the only guidance I gave to my military commanders is none of those are getting away”.

“I don’t care if we got to go around the globe to get them; we’re going to get them,” he said.

The Trump administration has seized seven tankers as part of its broader efforts to take control of the South American country’s oil. Unlike those previous actions, the Aquila II has not been formally seized and placed under US control, a defence official said.

Instead, the ship is being held while its ultimate fate is decided by the US, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss continuing decision-making.