Business & Economics
US Coast Guard Seizes Panama-Flagged Tanker 'Centuries' in Second Venezuela Blockade Action
At dawn on 20 Dec 2025, American helicopters boarded and took control of the tanker Centuries in international waters near Venezuela—the second seizure since President Trump announced a total blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan oil on 10 December.
Focusing Facts
- Centuries, a Panama-flagged vessel loaded with roughly 1.8 million barrels of Merey crude bound for China, was intercepted east of Barbados, maritime firm Vanguard reported.
- The ship is not on any U.S. Treasury sanctions list, making this the first non-sanctioned tanker confiscated under the new blockade policy, according to former OFAC investigator Jeremy Paner.
- TankerTrackers.com counts more than 70 vessels now idling in Venezuelan waters—38 of them already sanctioned—stalling nearly 1 million barrels per day of crude exports since the initial 10 Dec seizure.
Context
Major powers have long used naval power to choke rivals’ energy lifelines—from Britain’s 1902 gunboat blockade of Venezuela to the 1941 U.S. oil embargo that helped push Japan toward Pearl Harbor. Washington’s decision to seize a non-sanctioned ship marks a shift from financial sanctions to outright coercive control of sea lanes, echoing the 1980s Iran-Iraq “Tanker War” but this time aimed at a Western Hemisphere producer. It spotlights two structural trends: the U.S. re-militarization of economic sanctions and the growing shadow fleet that enables sanctioned exporters to keep feeding Asian demand. Whether this moment is a footnote or a hinge will depend on follow-through—if the quasi-embargo endures, a loss of roughly 1 % of global supply could tighten oil markets, embolden other great-power work-arounds (notably China’s), and further erode the post-1945 norm of freedom of navigation. In a century-scale view, the episode fits a recurring pattern: resource nationalism colliding with naval hegemony, often a prelude to broader conflict or, occasionally, to negotiated accommodation.
Perspectives
Right-leaning & pro-US enforcement media
e.g., The US Sun, Arab News, Saudi Gazette — Portray the tanker seizure as a bold, necessary step by the Trump administration to stop sanctioned oil that funds narco-terrorism and to re-assert American power in the region. Glorifies Trump’s toughness and treats U.S. claims as fact while downplaying legal controversies, the ship’s nonsanctioned status, and reports of civilian casualties from related strikes.
Venezuelan government officials and allied statements
e.g., Caracas press releases quoted by Reuters/TOI — Denounce the interception as a “serious act of international piracy” and “theft and kidnapping,” vowing to bring the matter before the U.N. Security Council. Frames the U.S. as the sole aggressor and sidesteps allegations that Venezuelan oil revenues finance narcotics trafficking or that the vessel was part of a shadow fleet.
Business & energy trade press
e.g., Economic Times, EconoTimes — Focus on how the seizure escalates a de-facto embargo, stalls Venezuelan crude exports, and could tighten global oil supplies and raise prices. Assesses the incident chiefly through market and compliance lenses, giving limited attention to humanitarian, legal, or geopolitical ramifications beyond oil flows.