U.S. military forces have boarded the sanctioned oil tanker Veronica III in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon announced in a statement on February 15, 2026.
The boarding followed a prolonged pursuit after the tanker, subject to U.S. sanctions, attempted to evade enforcement of a quarantine on sanctioned vessels. According to the Defense Department, the operation was carried out “without incident” under a right-of-visit maritime interdiction and boarding in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.
MV Veronica III is a Panamanian-flagged, 300,000 DWT crude oil tanker that left Venezuela on January 3, 2026 – the same day Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces – carrying nearly 2 million barrels of crude and fuel oil. Tracking data and maritime intelligence show the vessel has been involved in transporting Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan oil since 2023, and was previously sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in December 2024 for its role in Iran-linked oil trade.
Video released by the Pentagon depicts U.S. troops boarding the tanker by helicopter; authorities did not specify whether the vessel was formally seized or what will happen to its cargo following the boarding. The Pentagon’s statement emphasised that “international waters are not sanctuary” and highlighted the extended reach of U.S. enforcement efforts.
This operation marks the ninth boarding of a sanctioned or shadow fleet vessel since U.S. enforcement of quarantines and interdictions began in late 2025. In a similar action last week, the U.S. military boarded MV Aquila II in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean.The action forms part of ongoing efforts by U.S. authorities to intercept and disrupt the movement of tankers involved in sanction-evading oil shipments from Venezuela and other sanctioned sources.
