US naval forces intercepted an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean that escaped the blockade in the Caribbean ordered by President Donald Trump against sanctioned ships entering or leaving Venezuela, the Pentagon reported.
“The Verónica III”, flying the Panamanian flag, “tried circumvent President Trump’s blockadeand hoped to escape. “We followed it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, shortened the distance and neutralized it,” the Pentagon said in a message published this Sunday in X.
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The post includes video of US forces boarding a helicopter and then the tanker.
A week ago the Pentagon intercepted the Aquila II in a similar manner.
In December, Trump ordered a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers heading to and from Venezuela. At least nine ships have been seized since then.
These ships, however, represent a small fraction of the total number of sanctioned “ghost fleet” vessels operating around the world to evade sanctions, which could number around 800, according to a senior US Coast Guard official.
The Veronica III set sail from Venezuela on January 3, the same day that US special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro after invading the South American country’s territory.
The ship, which was carrying about 1.9 million barrels of oil, according to TankersTrackers.com, is included on the list of U.S. sanctions related to Iran, according to the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control website.
“The War Department will deny illicit actors and their representatives freedom of movement in the maritime domain,” the Pentagon stated in X.
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