Washington, 16 February (H.S.): United States military personnel boarded the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker Veronica III in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, capping an extraordinary transoceanic pursuit that originated in the Caribbean Sea as part of intensified enforcement against Venezuela's sanctioned oil exports.

This operation represents the second such high-seas interception in the Indian Ocean within the past week, underscoring President Donald Trump's administration's aggressive maritime campaign to dismantle illicit Venezuelan crude shipments defying the December-ordered quarantine.

The Pentagon characterized the mission as a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding, releasing video footage depicting troops descending via helicopter onto the vessel, which had departed Venezuela on January 3—the very day US forces captured President Nicolás Maduro in a raid on his Caracas compound.

Distance does not protect you, the Defense Department asserted in its statement. The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine—hoping to slip away. We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down. No other nation has the reach, endurance, or will to do this. International waters are not sanctuary.

Trackers.com reported the Veronica III carried approximately 1.9 million barrels of crude oil upon departure and has facilitated shipments of Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan oil since 2023; the vessel currently labors under US Treasury Department sanctions tied to Iranian shipping networks.

This boarding echoes last week's action against the Aquila II, which US forces similarly tracked and hunted to the Indian Ocean, amid a tally of at least seven tankers seized since last year—leaving only Chevron-linked vessels bound for the US to operate unimpeded.

The blockade has slashed Venezuelan loadings by roughly half to about 400,000 barrels per day in January, according to Kpler analyst Matt Smith, as a dozen vessels fled coastal waters post-Maduro's capture in a bid to evade detection.

Authorities have refrained from confirming whether the Veronica III faces formal seizure or release post-inspection, but these operations affirm America's unparalleled capacity to project power across global commons, methodically disrupting shadow fleets through persistent surveillance irrespective of flag changes or tracking manipulations.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar