U.S. Forces Board Sanctioned Tanker Veronica III in Indian Ocean Over Venezuelan Oil Smuggling

U.S. forces conducted a right-of-visit maritime interdiction and boarded the Panama‑flagged tanker Veronica III in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean, Pentagon officials said.

“A vessel identified by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as under US sanctions related to Iran — reportedly the Veronica III — was listed by the Panama Maritime Authority as no longer registered, with its Panama registration cancelled in December 2024”

Al Jazeera

Multiple outlets described the operation as a long‑range tracking and boarding that occurred "without incident".

Al Jazeera

The Pentagon released video of the action while declining to confirm whether the ship will be seized or placed under U.S. control.

Multiple trackers and officials reported that Veronica III sailed from Venezuela on Jan. 3, 2026.

The tanker was carrying roughly 1.9-2.0 million barrels of crude and fuel oil.

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Monitoring groups and media accounts link the tanker’s cargo patterns since 2023 to shipments involving Russia, Iran and Venezuela.

Satellite imagery and photos were cited to document multiple tankers leaving Venezuelan waters despite an imposed quarantine.

The Veronica III is listed on U.S. sanctions records and described as Panama‑flagged.

Panama’s maritime authority told some outlets it canceled the ship’s registration in December 2024.

U.S. officials and media repeatedly connect the boarding to an OFAC listing tied to Iranian oil activity and to a December quarantine order on sanctioned tankers.

Outlets differ on whether to describe the action as enforcement of a quarantine, a blockade, or a broader interdiction campaign.

Journalists and analysts place the Veronica III boarding within a stepped-up U.S. campaign to interdict a so-called 'shadow fleet' of tankers moving sanctioned Venezuelan crude.

Estimates and counts vary: some reports cite a U.S. Coast Guard-linked estimate of roughly 800 vessels in the wider network, while individual reportage lists between seven and nine interdictions or seizures so far and notes the earlier Aquila II boarding in the Indian Ocean.

Firstpost

Reports diverge on some political and human‑impact details surrounding the wider enforcement push.

“New data from the Danish Maritime Authority show EU‑sanctioned tankers tied to Russia’s “shadow fleet” made 292 voyages through Danish territorial waters in 2025, underscoring the Danish straits’ strategic role as a gateway to the Baltic and stoking European worries about sanctions evasion, safety and environmental risks”

gCaptain

A few outlets tie the Veronica III operation to a broader sequence that includes the January capture of Nicolás Maduro and U.S. control of some Venezuela‑origin oil sales.

gCaptain

Other outlets omit those links and instead focus narrowly on maritime enforcement.

Separately, some reporting highlights lethal U.S. strikes on suspected smuggling boats in the Caribbean, a detail not covered in all accounts.