Indian ocean: The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced that US forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it in the Caribbean Sea, stating that ‘this is the third such seizure in the region.’

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the Department said, ‘Military forces boarded a third sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean Sea, targeting illicit oil trade linked to Venezuela.’

The US Southern Command stated in a post on the “X” platform that “US forces boarded the vessel ‘Bertha’ on Monday night/Tuesday morning to conduct a law enforcement, maritime interdiction, boarding, and inspection operation.”

The statement said, “The vessel was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s ban on sanctioned ships in the Caribbean Sea and attempted to flee the Caribbean into the Indian Ocean. We tracked and intercepted it.”

A video showed US military helicopters flying towards the tanker.

A ship-tracking organization stated that the vessel was the only remaining tanker to be pursued after more than a dozen ships fled the Venezuelan coast following the ouster of President Nicol¡s Maduro.