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The Division of Conflict (DOW) stated Sunday that U.S. forces interdicted a vessel within the Indo-Pacific after it tried to evade a quarantine order issued by the Trump administration.
In a press release on X, the DOW stated the Veronica III was boarded with out incident whereas it was working within the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command space of duty.
“The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine — hoping to slide away. We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the space, and shut it down. No different nation has the attain, endurance, or will to do that,” the federal government account wrote.
“Worldwide waters should not sanctuary. By land, air, or sea, we’ll discover you and ship justice,” it added. “The Division of Conflict will deny illicit actors and their proxies freedom of motion within the maritime area.”
US MILITARY SEIZES ANOTHER FUGITIVE OIL TANKER LINKED TO VENEZUELA
U.S. forces conduct a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the Veronica III with out incident within the INDOPACOM space of duty after the vessel allegedly tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine, Feb. 15, 2026. (X/@DeptofWar)
The Veronica III is the most recent in a collection of high-profile maritime seizures by the U.S. army aimed toward implementing sanctions and curbing the export of Venezuelan oil.
President Donald Trump introduced a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going out and in of Venezuela in mid-December, as Washington elevated its naval presence within the Caribbean to place strain on now-former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
According to OpenSanctions, the Veronica III is listed on the U.S. Treasury Division’s Specifically Designated Nationals sanctions checklist.
U.S. forces conduct a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction, and boarding of the Veronica III within the INDOPACOM space of duty after the vessel allegedly tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine, Feb. 15, 2026. (X/@DeptofWar)
The tanker, a big crude oil service in-built 2006 and flagged in Panama, has been linked to the transport of tons of of hundreds of metric tons of sanctioned Iranian oil and is affiliated with a Chinese language ship-management firm that has additionally been sanctioned.
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OpenSanctions notes that the ship has beforehand sailed below completely different names and flags as a part of efforts to evade sanctions and disguise its actions at sea.
The Veronica III was among the many vessels sanctioned by Treasury in December 2024 as a part of a broader motion concentrating on 35 different entities and tankers concerned in transporting illicit Iranian oil to international markets.
