United States Seizes Second Oil Tanker Off Venezuela, Enforces Trump-Ordered Blockade

On Dec. 20, U.S. forces carried out a second interdiction of an oil tanker in international waters off Venezuela.

“I don’t have an article yet — please paste the text or a link (or a headline + short excerpt) and tell me which summary style you want”

9News.au

Washington said the action enforces former President Donald Trump's Dec. 16 order of a total and complete blockade on sanctioned tankers to and from Venezuela.

9News.au

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted video of a pre-dawn U.S. Coast Guard boarding and seizure, and multiple outlets identified the vessel as the Panama-flagged Centuries, which had previously sailed under other flags.

U.S. officials described the operation as part of an intensified campaign to stop illicit oil shipments they say finance narco-terrorism.

The seizure prompted immediate and sharp condemnations from Caracas, which called the interception "theft and hijacking".

In multiple statements, Caracas denounced it as international piracy and said it would bring complaints to the U.N. Security Council.

Al Jazeera

Venezuelan officials alleged the crew had been forcibly disappeared.

Venezuelan statements and West Asian reporting stressed the diplomatic and legal challenge Caracas intends to mount against Washington's actions.

At the same time, U.S. authorities and some local reporters described the operation as a "consented" or non‑violent boarding carried out by the Coast Guard with military support.

U.S. officials and allied statements have tied the interdictions to a broader campaign of maritime strikes and interdictions they say target drug‑trafficking and sanction‑evasion networks.

“Here’s a concise summary of the items you provided: - Security: The New York Times reported GPS signals were being jammed across parts of the Caribbean, attributed to actions by the U”

AnewZ

Several outlets reported an uptick in strikes on small vessels since September and attributed roughly 100–104 deaths to the campaign.

That death figure was repeated in Western mainstream reporting and in alternative outlets, while critics and some legal experts have called the strikes and seizures extrajudicial and legally problematic.

The Trump administration frames the actions as aimed at cutting off revenue streams for Maduro and associated criminal networks.

Reporting on the seized ship’s cargo and identity highlights a complex shadow fleet and concealment practices that have enabled Venezuelan crude to reach buyers despite sanctions.

Multiple outlets using ship-tracking data and internal PDVSA documents identify the Centuries, also reported as using the alias Crag, as carrying about 1.8 million barrels of Merey crude destined for China.

BBC

TankerTrackers and other analysts say dozens of tankers in Venezuelan waters operate under aliases or otherwise obscure their activity.

Some maritime publications note the Centuries does not appear on official sanctions lists, complicating the legal justification for its seizure.

The interdictions have sparked regional diplomatic fallout and market-watching.

“A video posted on X by Kristi Noem shows US helicopters landing on a ship labelled Centuries; Noem said the vessel—which she claimed last docked in Venezuela—was being targeted for allegedly moving sanctioned oil that funds "narco terrorism”

BBC

At the Mercosur summit a sharp clash broke out: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warned that armed intervention would create a 'humanitarian catastrophe,' while Argentina's Javier Milei supported tougher measures - a split that left no joint declaration.

BBC

Analysts and shipping firms say many loaded tankers have idled in Venezuelan waters or entered a 'shadow fleet,' sharply reducing exports and raising the prospect of higher prices if an effective embargo persists.

Commentators and legislators in the U.S. warned the actions risk escalation; diplomats in several capitals are reportedly assessing legal and humanitarian implications.