Overview
- U.S. personnel conducted a pre-dawn seizure on December 20 in international waters off Venezuela, with the Coast Guard leading and the military providing support.
- Video released by Homeland Security shows a boarding of the tanker identified as Centuries, which flies Panama’s flag and had last docked in Venezuela, with officials saying it was not immediately clear whether the vessel was on U.S. sanctions lists.
- Some officials described the operation as a consented boarding, following the December 10 seizure of the sanctioned tanker Skipper and Trump’s order of a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers.
- Venezuelan officials denounced the action as theft and piracy and vowed legal steps, while foreign leaders and U.S. lawmakers pressed for legal justification and warned of escalation risks.
- Ship-tracking reports indicate loaded tankers are lingering in Venezuelan waters and exports have slowed, underscoring how the blockade and interdictions are squeezing the country’s oil lifeline.