US seizes second oil tanker off coast of Venezuela in international waters

The oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela was seized by US forces on Saturday. It is the second time in less than two weeks that US forces have taken such actions, as US President Donald Trump puts increasing pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Days before, Trump announced a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving the country. A first tanker was seized off the coast of the South American country on 10 December by US forces.

In a social media post on X, Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Secretary, confirmed that "the US Coast Guard with the support of the Department of War" stopped the oil tanker last docked in Venezuela. Noem shared a video under her message of a US helicopter dropping personnel onto a vessel named Centuries.

According to MarineTraffic, a project that uses publicly available data to track ships around the world, a crude oil tanker sailing under a Panamanian flag and operating under that name was recently tracked near the Venezuelan coast. However, it is not known if the vessel was under US sanctions.

US officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the boarding of the vessel was "consented," as the tanker stopped voluntarily and allowed US forces to board.

The reason for seizing the Centuries is less clear than the first tanker, the Skipper, which wasn’t flying a nation’s flag and was part of a shadow fleet moving sanctioned cargo.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said the Centuries was also a “falsely flagged vessel operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil” carrying sanctioned oil.

However, maritime historian Dr Salvatore Mercogliano said shipping databases show the Centuries appeared legal. “Everything indicates that she is a properly registered vessel,” he said, though he added it likely carried sanctioned oil. He called the seizure “a big escalation” and said, “This one is meant to scare other tankers away.”

Venezuela called the seizure “criminal” and vowed not to let it “go unpunished,” including by filing complaints with the UN Security Council.

After the first tanker seizure, Trump vowed a blockade of Venezuela and ramped up rhetoric against Maduro, warning the Venezuelan leader’s days are numbered. He also demanded the return of assets seized from US oil companies years ago, saying, “We’re not going to be letting anybody going through who shouldn’t be going through... They took it — they illegally took it.”

The US has also targeted vessels it says are smuggling fentanyl and other drugs, with at least 104 killed in 28 strikes since September. Critics say evidence is lacking and deaths amount to extrajudicial killings.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.”