US tracks and boards sanctioned tanker far from Venezuela

US forces have intercepted another vessel linked to sanctioned Venezuelan oil, this time in the Indian Ocean, a location that underlines how far Washington is willing to project enforcement of its energy blockade.

In a post on X on Sunday, the Pentagon said the Panamanian-flagged Veronica III had “tried to defy” US President Donald Trump’s quarantine of sanctioned tankers and attempted to “slip away”.

“We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down,” the post said, alongside video showing troops boarding a helicopter and then the ship.

The operation fits into a broader campaign that began after Trump ordered the maritime quarantine in December, a move designed to squeeze President Nicolas Maduro. Several tankers left Venezuelan waters after US special forces abducted the country’s leader in January, and Washington has since pursued some of them across global shipping routes.

According to TankerTrackers.com, the Veronica III departed Venezuela on January 3, carrying nearly two million barrels of crude and fuel oil. The tracking group also noted that the vessel had been involved since 2023 in transporting Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil.

The Pentagon did not clarify whether the ship has been formally seized or placed under US control. It told The Associated Press it had no additional details beyond the social-media statement.

The Panama Maritime Authority said the tanker’s registration had already been cancelled in December 2024.

The latest boarding follows a similar interception last week of the Aquila II and brings the number of vessels taken in recent months to at least nine. Even so, that remains a small share of what officials describe as a much larger shadow fleet moving sanctioned crude worldwide, a figure that a senior US Coast Guard officer told AFP could reach 800 ships.

The maritime operations are running in parallel with a wider attempt to take control of Venezuelan oil revenues. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Thursday that sales managed by Washington had already generated more than $1bn and could bring in another $5bn in the coming months.