Kamal Ghorui
US military forces on Sunday boarded another sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean Sea as part of efforts to curb illicit oil shipments linked to Venezuela.According to the defence department, US forces conducted the operation overnight in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility. The tanker, identified as Veronica III, was intercepted after a long-distance pursuit.
In a post on X, the Pentagon shared said, “We defend the Homeland forward. Distance does not protect you.” The department also posted a video showing US troops boarding the tanker.Giving details of the operation, it added, “Overnight, US forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the Veronica III without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.”The department further stated that the vessel had attempted to evade enforcement measures ordered by President Donald Trump.“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.”It also issued a broader warning, saying, “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.”The Veronica III is a Panamanian-flagged vessel that is under US sanctions related to Iran, according to the website of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.The action comes amid ongoing US sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector. Venezuela has faced American sanctions for several years and has relied on a so-called shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to move crude oil into global supply chains.In December, President Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers to increase pressure on then-President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro was later apprehended in January during an American military operation.The Trump administration has been seizing tankers as part of its broader efforts to take control of Venezuela’s oil flows.Last week, US forces boarded another tanker, the Aquila II, in the Indian Ocean. According to a defence official, the ship was being held while US authorities decided its ultimate fate.
