U.S. military boards oil tanker in Indian Ocean after tracking from Caribbean

The Pentagon said U.S. forces boarded the Panamanian-flagged tanker Veronica III in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean; the vessel is listed under U.S. sanctions and its final status is under review.

U.S. military forces boarded a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean, the Pentagon said. The operation involved the Panamanian-flagged ship Veronica III, which has been linked by observers to oil movements involving Venezuela and other sources. The United States has imposed sanctions and announced a quarantine on certain tankers in recent months as part of efforts to disrupt illicit oil transfers. Officials released a brief account of the boarding but provided limited operational detail. What is known now: - U.S. forces conducted a boarding of the Panamanian-flagged tanker Veronica III in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean, the Pentagon said. - The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control lists the Veronica III under U.S. sanctions related to Iran. - TankerTrackers.com reported the vessel left Venezuela on Jan. 3 carrying nearly 2 million barrels of crude and fuel oil and noted prior involvement with Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil. - The Pentagon did not say whether the Veronica III was formally seized and provided no further details; the vessel's ultimate disposition is under review. Summary: U.S. officials describe the boarding as an interdiction of a tanker under U.S. sanctions that had been tracked from the Caribbean. Undetermined at this time.