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By Hollie Silverman
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U.S. military forces boarded a second sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it thousands of miles from the Caribbean, the Department of Defense (DOD) said Sunday.
The DOD described the boarding of the vessel, named the Veronica III, as a “right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding.”
The operation followed a similar interdiction of the Aquila II last week, as Washington intensified efforts to disrupt Venezuela-linked oil shipments under U.S. sanctions, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
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The Pentagon did not state whether Veronica III was seized or placed under U.S. control. Newsweek reached out to the DOD by email Sunday for more information.
Why It Matters
The boardings marked an escalation in U.S. enforcement of oil sanctions targeting Venezuela and associated networks, signaling that distance and international waters may not shield vessels accused by Washington of moving illicit crude.
The actions came after U.S. forces captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, an operation followed by a flight of tankers from Venezuelan waters.
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What To Know
The DOD posted video on Sunday of U.S. troops boarding the Veronica III and said the ship attempted to defy President Donald Trump’s December “quarantine” of sanctioned tankers tied to Venezuela.
The department said U.S. forces conducted a “right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding” on the Veronica III in the Indian Ocean.
The Veronica III is a Panamanian-flagged tanker designated under U.S. sanctions related to Iran, according to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
TankerTrackers.com said the vessel left Venezuela on Jan. 3—the day Maduro was captured—with nearly 2 million barrels of crude and fuel oil, and has been involved with Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan oil movements since 2023, AP reported.
Why Is the Military Boarding Oil Tankers?
According to U.S. officials, the operations sought to enforce a Trump administration “quarantine” on sanctioned vessels tied to Venezuela and disrupt illicit oil flows involving a network of falsely flagged or sanctioned tankers.
DOD statements asserted that sanctioned ships attempting to evade restrictions would be intercepted even in international waters.
U.S. forces first boarded the Aquila II after pursuing it from the Caribbean, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying the tanker was operating in defiance of a U.S. “quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
Reuters reported the ship departed Venezuelan waters in early January carrying about 700,000 barrels of heavy crude bound for China, according to PDVSA schedules.
What People Are Saying
Department of Defense said Sunday in a post on X: "The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine —hoping to slip away. We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down. No other nation has the reach, endurance, or will to do this. International waters are not sanctuary. By land, air, or sea, we will find you and deliver justice. The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies freedom of movement in the maritime domain."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X on January 9: "The ghost fleets will not outrun justice. They will not hide under false claims of nationality. The Coast Guard will seize sanctioned oil tankers, enforce U.S. and international law, and eliminate these funding streams for illicit activity including narco-terrorism."
What Happens Next
The Pentagon has not announced whether the Veronica III would be seized or redirected, and officials previously said the Aquila II was being held pending a U.S. decision, leaving the disposition of both vessels unresolved as of Sunday.
Further interdictions are possible under the stated policy that sanctioned tankers operating in defiance of U.S. restrictions will be intercepted, but the DOD has not confirmed additional targets.
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