United States forces have boarded the Panama-flagged oil tanker Veronica III (IMO: 9326055) in the Indian Ocean. This operation marks the ninth vessel interdicted in an intensifying campaign against the “shadow fleet” transporting illicit Venezuelan oil.
The interdiction occurred overnight within the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s area of responsibility. According to the Department of War, the vessel was attempting to evade the quarantine on sanctioned oil shipments mandated by President Trump. “The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine—hoping to slip away,” the Department stated. “We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down.”
Veronica III departed Venezuela on January 3, 2026, carrying approximately 1.9 million barrels of crude and fuel oil. The vessel is known in tracking circles by the alias “DS VECTOR” and has a history of transporting Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan oil since 2023.
The Veronica III was explicitly sanctioned by the Treasury Department on December 3, 2024. It is managed by Shanghai Future Ship Management Co. Ltd., a Chinese entity previously accused of facilitating illicit Iranian oil shipments. Treasury records indicate the vessel has moved hundreds of thousands of metric tons of Iranian crude for the National Iranian Oil Company.