The United States interdicted a tanker off the coast of Venezuela, two sources familiar with the raid told USA TODAY on Dec. 20, just days after PresidentDonald Trumpannounceda "blockade"of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
The sources identified the vessel as the Centuries, which maritime records show is a Panama-flagged oil tanker. The ship is not under U.S. sanctions, the sources said. Marine traffic trackers showed the Centuries was off the coast of Venezuela in the waters of Curaçao, a Dutch Caribbean island.
The Centuries is a 333-meter-long oil tanker that last docked in Singapore in October, according to vessel tracker Maritime Optima. Its reported seizure would mark the second time in recent weeks that the United States has seized a tanker near Venezuela and comes amida large U.S. military build-upin the region. The seizure was first reported by Reuters.
Three officials told Reuters the Coast Guard was in the lead. The Coast Guard and Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Venezuela's oil ministry and state oil company PDVSA did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
"I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela," Trump said on Tuesday.
In the days since U.S. forcesseized a sanctioned oil tankeroff the coast of Venezuela last week, there has been an effective embargo in place, with loaded vessels carrying millions of barrels of oil staying in Venezuelan waters rather than risk seizure.
Since the first seizure, Venezuelan crude exports have fallen sharply.
While many vessels picking up oil in Venezuela are under sanctions, others transporting the country's oil and crude from Iran and Russia have not been sanctioned, and some companies, particularly the U.S. oil company Chevron, transport Venezuelan oil in their own authorized ships.
China is the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude, which accounts for roughly 4% of its imports, with shipments in December on track to average more than 600,000 barrels per day, analysts have said.
Since the U.S. imposed energy sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, traders and refiners buying Venezuelan oil have resorted to a "shadow fleet" of tankers that disguise their location and to vessels sanctioned for transporting Iranian or Russian oil.
Trump's pressure campaign on Maduro has included a ramped-up military presence in the region andmore than two dozen military strikeson vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have killed at least 100 people.
Chairman of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, holds a phone displaying a picture of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025, at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway October 10, 2025." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
María Corina Machado (R), stands atop a truck next to the leader of the opposition Encuentro ciudadano party Delsa Solorzano (C) during a protest called by the opposition for election 'victory' to be recognized, in Caracas on August 17, 2024. Machado, who came out of hiding to attend the rally, vowed that anti-government protesters would remain out in force, as she addressed a protest in Caracas against Nicolas Maduro's disputed reelection victory claim." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
María Corina Machado signs their national anthem during a rally in Caracas on August 28, 2024. Venezuela's opposition supporters rallied on August 28, a month after the disputed re-election of President Nicolas Maduro, who armored his cabinet with a strongman at the helm of law and order." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
María Corina Machado embraces children during a rally in Caracas on August 28, 2024." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
María Corina Machado waves a national flag during a rally in Caracas on August 28, 2024." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
María Corina Machado waves a Venezuelan flag during a rally in Caracas on August 28, 2024." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
María Corina Machado gestures to supporters next to opposition figure Delsa Solorzano during a rally in Caracas on August 28, 2024." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
MEPsd give a standing ovation to co-laureate of the 2024 Sakharov human rights prize María Corina Machado (screen) during the award ceremony at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on December 17, 2024." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
María Corina Machado (L) and former Deputy of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Pablo Guanipa, hold a banner demanding for the release of all political prisoners during a protest called by the opposition on the eve of the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 9, 2025. Machado, who emerged from hiding to lead protests against the swearing-in of Nicolas Maduro for a highly controversial third term as president, was arrested after being "violently intercepted upon exiting the rally," according to her security team." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Meet Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner
Chairman of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, holds a phone displaying a picture of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025, at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway October 10, 2025.
Trump has also said that U.S. land strikes on the South American country will soon start.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has alleged that the U.S. military build-up is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the OPEC nation's oil resources, which are the world's largest crude reserves.
This story has been updated to add new information.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:US seizes vessel off Venezuela, sources say
