US forces board ship in Indian Ocean that fled Caribbean blockade
The Panamanian-flagged Veronica III "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," the Pentagon said on X
(VOZ / Christian Camacho)
U.S. forces boarded an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean that violated President Donald Trump's blockade of sanctioned ships in the Caribbean and fled the region. The news was released by the Pentagon this Sunday.
The Panamanian-flagged Veronica III "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," the Pentagon said on X.
">We defend the Homeland forward. Distance does not protect you.
— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) February 15, 2026
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
The release included a video of U.S. forces boarding a helicopter and then the tanker.
The Pentagon intercepted the Aquila II in a similar manner about a week ago.
In December, Trump ordered a "blockade" of sanctioned oil tankers headed to and from Venezuela. At least nine ships have been seized to date.
The Veronica III left Venezuela on Jan. 3, the same day U.S. special forces captured Nicolás Maduro in a raid, carrying about 1.9 million barrels of oil, TankersTrackers.com said.
The ship is included on the U.S. sanctions list related to Iran, according to the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control website.
"The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies freedom of movement in the maritime domain," the Pentagon said on X.
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