Panamanian-flagged Veronica III left Venezuela on the identical day because the US seize of President Nicolas Maduro in January.
Printed On 16 Feb 2026
United States forces have boarded one other tanker within the Indian Ocean that was sanctioned for carrying Venezuelan oil, in line with the Pentagon.
In a put up 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 put up 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 strain 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 similarly.
No less than 9 ships have been seized thus far.
The seizures are a part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to take management of Venezuela’s oil.
US Secretary of Power Chris Wright advised 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 response to TankerTrackers.com, the Veronica III left Venezuela on January 3, the identical day as Maduro’s abduction, with practically 2 million barrels of crude and gasoline oil.
“Since 2023, she’s been concerned with Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil,” the organisation stated.
The vessel has been beneath US sanctions associated to Iran, in line with the web site of the Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Property Management.
The Panama Maritime Authority stated in a quick assertion on Sunday that the ship was now not registered there and had been cancelled in December 2024.
The Pentagon didn’t say within the put up whether or not the Veronica III was formally seized and positioned beneath US management. It advised The Related Press information company in an e-mail that it had no extra info to offer past that put up.
The ships seized in current 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 could possibly be as excessive as 800.
On Saturday, US forces additionally attacked a ship within the Caribbean Sea, killing three folks, because it continues lethal air strikes on vessels it alleges are carrying medicine. The strikes have killed not less than 133 folks since September 2025.
