The U.S. Coast Guard has seized the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker Centuries, owned by a Chinese company and not on the sanctions list, in international waters off Venezuela on December 20—marking the second such interception in under two weeks amid President Trump's newly announced total blockade on sanctioned vessels.
This operation follows the December 10 seizure of the Skipper, a tanker using a fake Guyanese flag loaded with 1.9 million barrels of crude. Saturday's action, first reported by Reuters citing anonymous officials, comes days after Trump's declaration of a 'total and complete blockade' on sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, framed as retaliation against Maduro's government for expropriations like those of ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips (2007-2009) and the 1976 oil nationalization.
Venezuela, with the world's largest crude reserves, uses a 'ghost fleet' of vessels with false flags and disabled trackers to dodge U.S. sanctions since 2019; over 40% of arriving ships are sanctioned, with 75+ linked to Caracas targeted. The Treasury recently added 29 Iranian tankers—key allies—to the list. Despite risks, three large tankers have left Venezuelan ports recently, some military-escorted, as Maduro vows 700,000 barrels/day to China, though exports have dropped sharply post-Skipper.
The blockade has spiked oil prices and rerouted Caribbean shipping. Maduro condemns the moves as a coup attempt to seize resources, amid rising Caribbean tensions including U.S. strikes on drug boats causing over 100 deaths.