The United States has seized another oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas amid an ongoing crackdown on vessels suspected of carrying sanctioned Venezuelan crude oil.
The latest seizure occurred early Saturday, December 20, 2025, when the US Coast Guard, with support from the US Department of War, apprehended a tanker that had recently docked in Venezuela, according to US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“This was a pre-dawn operation,” Noem said in a post on X, accompanied by aerial footage showing a helicopter hovering over the vessel at sea.
Venezuela reacted angrily, describing the seizure as “theft and kidnapping”, and warned that those responsible would be held accountable “by justice and history.”
US authorities identified the vessel as Centuries, a Chinese-owned, Panama-flagged crude oil tanker, suspected of transporting oil subject to US sanctions.
While the tanker does not appear on the US Treasury Department’s official sanctions list, the White House said the cargo contained sanctioned PDVSA oil, referring to Venezuela’s state-owned oil company.
White House deputy spokeswoman Anna Kelly described the ship as “falsely flagged” and part of what US officials call Venezuela’s shadow oil fleet.
Details Of The Seized Vessel
According to TankerTrackers, an oil shipment monitoring service, Centuries loaded approximately 1.8 million barrels of crude oil at a Venezuelan port earlier this month and was escorted out of Venezuela’s exclusive economic zone on December 18.
Ship-tracking data also placed the tanker off Venezuela’s coast shortly before the seizure.
The incident marks the second oil tanker seizure in two weeks, following a similar US operation on December 10, when American forces intercepted a vessel allegedly transporting Venezuelan oil to Iran.
The seizures come shortly after President Donald Trump announced a blockade on “sanctioned oil vessels” entering or leaving Venezuela.
The US has also expanded its military presence in the Caribbean, deploying 11 warships, including an aircraft carrier, destroyers, cruisers, and amphibious assault ships, citing efforts to combat drug trafficking and sanction evasion.
Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez accused the US of engaging in psychological warfare and intimidation, insisting the country would not be cowed by military pressure.
Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said allies such as Iran were offering Venezuela support to counter what he described as “piracy and international terrorism” by the United States.
The tanker seizure coincided with a Mercosur summit in South America, where concerns over Venezuela sparked diplomatic tensions.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warned that escalating conflict over Venezuela could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe, while Argentina’s President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, said his country welcomed US pressure to “free the Venezuelan people.”