US forces board and 'shut down' sanctioned Venezuela-linked oil tanker in the Indian Ocean

16 February 2026, 05:31 | Updated: 16 February 2026, 06:50

US forces have boarded another sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean as part of efforts to target illicit oil tankers linked to Venezuela.

Military personnel boarded the Veronica III in a "right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding", the Department of War said in a social media post on Sunday.

Venezuela had faced US sanctions on its oil for several years and relied on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to transport the crude oil.

"The vessel tried to defy President Trump's quarantine - hoping to slip away," the Department of War said on X.

"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."

Donald Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers in December to increase economic pressure on then-president Nicolás Maduro.

The next month, Maduro and his wife were abducted in a US military operation and taken to New York to stand trial.

Several tankers fled the Venezuelan coast in the wake of the raid, including the Veronica III, that was boarded overnight.

"International waters are not sanctuary. By land, air, or sea, we will find you and deliver justice," the Department of War said.

"The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies freedom of movement in the maritime domain."

Video posted by the department shows US troops boarding the tanker.

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The Veronica III is a Panamanian-flagged vessel under US sanctions related to Iran, according to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control's website.

The Panama Maritime Authority said that the ship was no longer registered after its authorisation was cancelled in December 2024.

The Veronica III left Venezuela on 3 January, the same day as Maduro's capture, with nearly 2 million barrels of crude and fuel oil, TankerTrackers.com posted on X.

"Since 2023, she's been involved with Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil," the organisation said.

(c) Sky News 2026: US forces board and 'shut down' sanctioned Venezuela-linked oil tanker in the Indian Ocean