<figure id="attachment_3283932" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3283932" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3283932 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/07487dbc-victoria-ii-trump-sanctions-afp-16_02_26.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3283932" class="wp-caption-text">A photo shared on the US Department of Defense X account shows US military personnel boarding the oil tanker Veronica III in the Indian Ocean. (AFP pic)</figcaption></figure>
WASHINGTON: US forces boarded an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean that violated President Donald Trump&#8217;s blockade of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean and fled the region, the Pentagon said Sunday.
The Panamanian-flagged Veronica III &#8220;tried to defy President Trump&#8217;s quarantine &#8212; hoping to slip away. We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down,&#8221; the Pentagon said on X.
The post included a video of US forces boarding a helicopter and then boarding the tanker ship.
The Pentagon intercepted the Aquila II in similar fashion about a week ago.
In December, Trump ordered a &#8220;blockade&#8221; of sanctioned oil vessels heading to and from Venezuela. At least nine ships have been seized thus far.
But those ships seized in recent months make up only a tiny fraction of the total number of sanctioned &#8220;shadow fleet&#8221; vessels operating worldwide to evade sanctions, which a senior US Coast Guard officer said number up to 800.
The Veronica III left Venezuela on Jan 3 &#8212; the same day that US special forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a raid &#8212; carrying around 1.9 million barrels of oil, TankersTrackers.com said.
The ship is listed under US sanctions relating to Iran, according to the website of the US Treasury&#8217;s Office of Foreign Asset Control.
&#8220;The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies freedom of movement in the maritime domain,&#8221; the Pentagon said on X.

MatchPoint Times

US forces board ship in Indian Ocean that fled Caribbean blockade

Veronica III is among the ships seized in recent months, representing only a tiny fraction of the sanctioned “shadow fleet” vessels still operating worldwide to evade restrictions.

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