In a bold maritime operation spanning continents, US military forces boarded the sanctioned oil tanker Veronica III in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon announced on Sunday. The interdiction targeted illicit oil linked to Venezuela, marking another strike against vessels evading US sanctions.
The Veronica III, a Panamanian-flagged ship, is under US sanctions related to Iran, as designated by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. US forces conducted “a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding” on the vessel overnight, according to a Pentagon post on X.
Several tankers had fled the Venezuelan coast in the wake of a recent raid, including the Veronica III, which attempted to slip away undetected. “The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine – hoping to slip away,” the Pentagon stated. “We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance and shut it down.”
The operation underscores ongoing US efforts to disrupt illicit oil trade networks connected to Venezuela. By monitoring the tanker’s journey from the Caribbean Sea across vast oceanic distances, military forces demonstrated advanced tracking capabilities to enforce sanctions compliance.
Video footage released by the Pentagon captures US troops boarding the Veronica III, providing visual confirmation of the interdiction in the remote waters of the Indian Ocean. The boarding represents a significant escalation in maritime enforcement against sanctioned shipping.
This incident follows a pattern of US military actions targeting tankers involved in prohibited oil transfers. The Veronica III’s pursuit from the Caribbean highlights the global reach of these operations and the determination to intercept vessels defying presidential directives on Venezuelan oil.
