The United States intercepted an oil tanker with us this Saturday Panamanian flag in international waters of the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Venezuela. It’s about them second ship intercepted in the Caribbean by Donald Trump’s administration, which seized the ship last week captain and confiscated the crude oil it was transporting.
Accordingly The New York Timeswhich cited a US official and two Venezuelan oil industry sources, is the name of the detained ship centuries and does not appear on the list of sanctioned oil tankers USA. On the contrary, the media has pointed this out The ship belongs to an oil company based in China that transports Venezuelan crude oil to refineries in the Asian country.
Hours after hearing the news, the United States shared the first images of the moment as personnel of the North American Coast Guard boarded the ship in international waters, an action that is part of Washington’s increasing pressure on the regime of Nicolás Maduro and its allies.
The operation carried out this Saturday included the overflight of military helicopters and the direct boarding of the centuries by US forces.
Although it is not on the official list of vessels sanctioned by the United States, it was still a transport Venezuelan crude oil toward refineries in China, according to industry sources quoted by The New York Times. The Centuries’ route and ownership placed them at the center of the U.S. strategy to limit the export of Venezuelan oil through international intermediaries.
This new seizure comes as part of a broader campaign of diplomatic and economic pressure promoted by the government Donald Trump. In recent weeks, the US government has tightened the blockade on the entry and exit of sanctioned oil tankers in Venezuela. “Remember that they took away all of our energy rights. They took away all of our oil not long ago. We want it back. They took it away from us illegally,” the North American president said days ago.
The operation against the Centuries was followed by the seizure of the ship captainwhich had already been sanctioned for transporting Iranian oil, according to the White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavittwill be transferred to a US port after a legal procedure.
The consequences of these measures were immediately reflected in the Venezuelan ports. The Wall Street Journal And TankerTrackers.com They reported that on Thursday, December 11, about a dozen oil tankers waited outside the country’s main port and did not dare to dock to load crude oil. Under normal conditions, at least ten ships would operate at the terminal at the same time. Fears of new seizures in the U.S. have led to absenteeism among port employees and paralyzed activity at several facilities. He oil It represents more than 90% of Venezuela’s export revenue, and international pressure is forcing the country to sell its crude oil at well-below market prices, mostly to China, as it draws on its dwindling international reserves to curb inflation.
The seizure of centuries and the threat of new similar actions have increased tensions in the region and put Venezuela’s most important trading partners in particular on alert China. The Trump administration has warned of the possibility of continuing the strategy of seizing more ships to increase pressure on Maduro. The “floats in the shadows“The ship transports Venezuelan crude oil and consists of nearly a thousand old vessels – many of which are also involved in the transfer of sanctioned oil from Russia and Iran – and operates secretly to circumvent restrictions. According to them TankerTrackers.comMore than 80 ships are in Venezuelan waters or near the coast, and over 30 are under US sanctions. The United States’ seizure of ships in international waters is rare, although there are precedents, such as the seizure of four ships carrying Iranian fuel in 2020 after approval by a federal judge.
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