Watch: US Forces Board Second Venezuelan-Linked Oil Tanker In Indian Ocean

The United States military has boarded a second oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean Sea as part of its enforcement of sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports.

The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday that American forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding operation on the Panamanian-flagged tanker Veronica III.

The Defence Department said the overnight operation was completed without incident. It did not clarify whether the vessel had been formally seized or allowed to continue its voyage.

According to the Pentagon, the tanker had attempted to evade a quarantine on sanctioned vessels ordered by President Donald Trump in December.

The department stated that US forces tracked the vessel from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean before intercepting it.

The Veronica III is listed under sanctions imposed by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in connection with Iran and Venezuela.

The Panama Maritime Authority said the vessel was no longer registered under its flag, adding that its registration had been cancelled in December 2024.

Monitoring group TankerTrackers.com reported that the tanker departed Venezuela on 3 January carrying nearly 2 million barrels of crude and fuel oil.

We defend the Homeland forward. Distance does not protect you.

Overnight, U.S. forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the Veronica III without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.

The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s… pic.twitter.com/Tran3cLR9g

— Department of War (@DeptofWar) February 15, 2026

The departure took place on the same day that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured during a US military operation in Caracas.

The group also stated that since 2023 the vessel had been involved in transporting Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil.

The boarding follows a similar operation last week involving another tanker, Aquila II, in the Indian Ocean. US forces boarded and inspected that vessel as part of the same enforcement effort.

A defence official previously said the ship was being held while its future status was under consideration.

Venezuela has been subject to US oil sanctions for several years and has relied on what US officials describe as a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to move crude into global markets.

In January, TankerTrackers.com stated that at least 16 tankers had departed the Venezuelan coast in breach of the quarantine, based on satellite imagery and surface-level photographs.

The US administration has been seizing tankers as part of its measures aimed at restricting Venezuelan oil exports.

According to analytics firm Kpler, Venezuelan crude loadings fell by roughly half in January to about 400,000 barrels per day following the blockade, while vessels associated with Chevron and bound for the United States continued operating as usual.

References: BBC, Firstpost

Source: Maritime Shipping News