This action occurred on February 15 (US time), after the US military monitored the ship from the Caribbean Sea. The US Department of War said that the ship tried to "challenge the blockade order" issued by President Donald Trump for sanctioned ships, but US forces monitored from the end of the journey and landed on the ship safely in an incident-free arrest operation.
According to the US Department of War, the ship Veronica III is on the sanctions list related to Iran and illegal oil transportation. The ship left Venezuela on January 3, the same day Mr. Nicolás Maduro was arrested by US forces, carrying nearly 2 million barrels of crude oil and fuel oil. The maritime tracking site TankerTrackers. com said that the ship has participated in oil transportation from Venezuela, Russia and Iran since 2023.
The Pentagon posted a video of US soldiers approaching Veronica III by helicopter and boarding a ship. The US military declared it would prevent illegal activities and their authorized forces from freely moving at sea.
This action takes place within the framework of the Trump administration's campaign to implement sanctions. In December 2025, the US administration issued a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela to control the country's oil activities, and then deployed troops to prevent ships from deliberately evading orders. To date, at least 9 related ships have been seized or intercepted by US forces on the route.
Maritime tracking sources say that the ship Veronica III and similar ships frequently change flags and designations to avoid surveillance and punishment. The US believes that these ships contribute to creating a "dark fleet" specializing in evading punishment around the world, estimated at hundreds of ships.
The arrest campaign stretching from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean is seen as Washington's drastic step to control the oil flow considered illegal, while sending a strong message to ships and organizations seeking to challenge sanctions.
