U.S. forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon said adding that it was the third such interception in the region.
Following the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid in Caracas last month, Washington has stepped up its measures to blockade sanctioned ships entering or leaving Venezuela, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
the Pentagon said U.S. forces boarded the Bertha last night, accusing the crude oil tanker of trying to defy sanctions imposed on Iran.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control says the Cook Islands-flagged vessel Bertha is linked to Shanghai Legendary Ship Management Co., Ltd. and is subject to sanctions imposed in January 2020.
The ship management company could not yet be reached for comment.
The tanker left Venezuelan waters in early January.
MarineTraffic, a ship tracking website, recorded the vessel's last known location on its AIS tracking system today in the Indian Ocean off the Maldives.
The Pentagon wrote, "Overnight, U.S. forces conducted a right of inspection, maritime intercept, and boarding operation on the USS Bertha without incident in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility. The vessel was sailing in defiance of a Presidential (Donald) Trump ban on sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean and attempted to escape... We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean and stopped it."
The Pentagon added, "Three ships escaped, and now all have been seized," without providing further details. The ship Bertha left Venezuelan waters in early January as part of a fleet that was almost entirely seized by the United States.
Shipping reports from Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA said the vessel was carrying about 1.9 million barrels of heavy Merey crude and was headed to China.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier this month that US forces boarded the Suezmax-class oil tanker Aquila 2 in the Indian Ocean. This was followed by the seizure of the vessel Veronica 3 in the same area on February 15.
Trump issued an order to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, but the change requires action from Congress.
The previously seized vessels were either subject to US sanctions or part of a fleet of ships that concealed their origin to transport oil from major sanctioned producers, Iran, Russia and Venezuela.
According to a Reuters analysis, with this latest seizure, U.S. forces have now seized 10 oil tankers since December, releasing at least two of them and returning them to the new Venezuelan government.
The Pentagon said, "International waters are not a safe haven for sanctioned entities. Our forces will find you on land, in the air, and at sea, and will deliver justice."
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