Panamanian-flagged Veronica III left Venezuela on the identical day because the US seize of President Nicolas Maduro in January.
Revealed On 16 Feb 2026
United States forces have boarded one other tanker within the Indian Ocean that was sanctioned for carrying Venezuelan oil, in response to the Pentagon.
In a submit on X on Sunday, the Pentagon stated the Panamanian-flagged Veronica III had “tried to defy” US President Donald Trump’s blockade of sanctioned vessels within the Caribbean and tried to “slip away”.
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However, “We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the space, and shut it down”, it stated.
The submit included a video of US forces boarding a helicopter after which boarding the tanker ship.
Venezuela confronted US sanctions on its oil for a number of years, counting on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into international provide chains. Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers in December to stress President Nicolas Maduro, earlier than US particular forces kidnapped the Venezuelan chief in January.
A number of tankers fled the Venezuelan coast within the wake of the raid, together with the ship that was boarded within the Indian Ocean in a single day.
Final week, the Pentagon additionally intercepted the Aquila II in a similar way.
A minimum of 9 ships have been seized to date.
The seizures are a part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to take management of Venezuela’s oil.
US Secretary of Vitality Chris Wright instructed NBC Information on Thursday that oil gross sales from Venezuela, managed by Washington, have generated greater than $1bn since Maduro’s seize. He stated the gross sales within the subsequent few months will usher in one other $5bn.
In line with TankerTrackers.com, the Veronica III left Venezuela on January 3, the identical day as Maduro’s abduction, with almost 2 million barrels of crude and gas oil.
“Since 2023, she’s been concerned with Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil,” the organisation stated.
The vessel has been underneath US sanctions associated to Iran, in response to the web site of the Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Belongings Management.
The Panama Maritime Authority stated in a short assertion on Sunday that the ship was not registered there and had been cancelled in December 2024.
The Pentagon didn’t say within the submit whether or not the Veronica III was formally seized and positioned underneath US management. It instructed The Related Press information company in an e mail that it had no extra info to offer past that submit.
The ships seized in latest months make up solely a tiny fraction of the entire variety of sanctioned “shadow fleet” vessels working worldwide.
The AFP information company, citing a senior US coastguard officer, stated the quantity may very well be as excessive as 800.
On Saturday, US forces additionally attacked a ship within the Caribbean Sea, killing three individuals, because it continues lethal air strikes on vessels it alleges are carrying medication. The strikes have killed no less than 133 individuals since September 2025.
