Overview
- U.S. military units intercepted, boarded and detained the VLCC Veronica III in INDOPACOM waters during an overnight operation conducted without incident.
- The Pentagon said the vessel attempted to breach a sanctions quarantine ordered by President Donald Trump.
- Officials reported tracking the ship from the Caribbean basin to the Indian Ocean before halting it.
- U.S. Treasury’s OFAC records list Veronica III as sailing under Panama’s flag.
- Ukraine’s defense intelligence has reported the tanker transported sanctioned Iranian oil on behalf of NIOC.