US Detains Tanker Berta: Who Is It Linked To?

The United States has seized another shadow fleet tanker, the third so far, the Berta, in the waters of the Indian Ocean.

USN reports that Berta was the only vessel still being pursued after more than a dozen others fled from the coast of Venezuela following the detention of President Nicolás Maduro.

Since early December, when the United States began cracking down on ships linked to Venezuela, the Trump administration has detained ten oil tankers. Earlier seizures took place in the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean.

The United States Southern Command reported on X that U.S. forces detained Berta overnight, exercising their “right of visit” and carrying out a maritime interception and detention.

Three boats ran and now all three have been captured.

Overnight, U.S. forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the Bertha without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility. The vessel was operating in defiance of President Trump’s… pic.twitter.com/YoHlb9v54p

— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) February 24, 2026

An anonymous U.S. official noted that, as in the two previous cases in the Indian Ocean, Berta was not formally confiscated but remains under U.S. control.

According to the official, the tanker’s further fate will be determined by the United States Department of Homeland Security and the United States Department of State.

The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine reports that Berta was involved in transporting sanctioned Iranian oil and conducting “dark” maritime activities.

In particular, the vessel carried out ship-to-ship (STS) transfers in the northeastern part of the Atlantic Ocean involving the vessels EMILY S (IMO 9321847), Merope (IMO 9281891), and Skadi (IMO 9230971).

The tanker is affiliated with the Chinese company Shanghai Legendary Ship Management Company Limited, which is under U.S. sanctions. Since at least 2022, the company’s fleet has allegedly been involved in the illegal transportation of millions of barrels of Iranian oil.

The vessel has called at the following ports: Algeciras Bay (Spain); Egina Oil Terminal (Nigeria); Lanshan, Ningbo, Yantai, Yingkou, Zhoushan, Meishan, Aoshan Oil Terminal, Dongjiakou, Mabianzhou, Daxie, and Xianren Dao (all in China); as well as Tanjong Pagar (Singapore) and Tanjung Pengelih and Sungai Linggi (Malaysia).

A previous detention was reported recently, on February 15.