United States military forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from Caribbean waters, the Pentagon said on Tuesday (24), adding that this was the third interception of its kind in the region.
After capturing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in a military operation last month in Caracas, Washington intensified the blockade against vessels under sanctions that go to and from the South American country, a member of the OPEC group of oil producers.
Reuters confirmed the tanker’s identity as Bertha through its shape, structures, cranes and deck paint, which matched archival images of the vessel. The exact date the video was recorded could not be verified. However, the Pentagon said it seized the tanker in the Indian Ocean overnight in a release on Tuesday.
The United States Department of Defense accused the crude oil ship of trying to violate sanctions related to Iran.
Marine tracking data also indicated the vessel was in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday.
The Bertha, which sails under the flag of the Cook Islands, is linked to Shanghai Legendary Ship Management Company Limited and is subject to sanctions imposed in January 2020, according to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The shipping management company could not immediately be reached for comment.
Oil tanker left Venezuelan waters last month
The vessel’s last reported position in the AIS tracking system was on February 24, sailing in the Indian Ocean, off the Maldives, according to data from MarineTraffic.
“Overnight, U.S. forces conducted the maritime interdiction and boarding of the Bertha without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility. The vessel was operating in defiance of the quarantine established by President Trump against sanctioned ships in the Caribbean and attempted to escape,” the Pentagon wrote.
“From the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, we tracked it and intercepted it.”
“Three vessels fled and now all three have been captured,” the Pentagon added, without providing other details.
The Bertha sailed in early January from Venezuelan waters as part of a flotilla that was almost entirely seized by the US. The ship was carrying about 1.9 million barrels of Merey heavy oil bound for China, according to transportation reports from Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA.
Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that US military forces had boarded the Suezmax Aquila II oil tanker in the Indian Ocean. The action was followed by .
The previously seized vessels were either under US sanctions or part of one disguising their origins to transport oil from major producers under sanctions — Iran, Russia or Venezuela.
US forces have intercepted 10 oil tankers since December — including the most recent seizure — and released at least two of them back to the new Venezuelan government, according to a Reuters analysis.
