Video: U.S. “Apprehends” Chinese-Owned Tanker After Leaving Venezuela
The United States has boarded a second crude oil tanker in the Caribbean, coming days after Donald Trump said the U.S. would be blockading Venezuela’s oil industry. The reports are raising immediate questions as the tanker does not appear on the sanction lists from the United States, the EU, the UK, or other authorities.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the boarding, saying the United States has “apprehended an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela.” Reports are that the operation was led by the U.S. Coast Guard, assisted by the Department of War.
The video shows a helicopter approaching the vessel and troops on the deck. The helicopter continues to circle the vessel, which is underway in what appears to be the rising sun.
In a pre-dawn action early this morning on Dec. 20, the US Coast Guard with the support of the Department of War apprehended an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) December 20, 2025
The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund… pic.twitter.com/nSZ4mi6axc
PREPARE TO BE BOARDED.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) December 20, 2025
This morning @USCG in coordination with the @DeptofWar executed a lightning strike operation to seize the Motor Tanker Centuries, which is suspected of carrying oil subject to U.S. sanctions.
The iron fist of America’s joint military and federal law… pic.twitter.com/lcUVauqg2M
The New York Times is reporting that the U.S. troops are aboard to check the vessel’s registry. The statements have not said that the U.S. seized the vessel, with questions being referred to the White House, which has not yet commented.
The vessel’s name appears in the video, Centuries, a Panama-registered vessel. Equasis shows the vessel was acquired by a Chinese company, Centuries Shipping, in 2021 and has been registered consistently since then in Panama. The vessel was built in 2001 and is 309,460 dwt.
Tankertrackers.com reports the vessel loaded 1.8 million barrels of Venezuela crude, and that it was at least the vessel’s seventh trip to Venezuela. It appears to be bound for China. Reports are saying that the vessel has not been linked to the Iranian oil trade.
From our daily shoreside sightings as well as additional satellite imagery, the Panama-flagged, HK/Chinese-owned VLCC supertanker CENTURIES (9206310) had loaded 1.8 million barrels of Merey-16 crude oil at the NW berth of the Jose Terminal between 2025-12-07 and 2025-12-11.
— TankerTrackers.com, Inc. (@TankerTrackers) December 20, 2025
This… pic.twitter.com/0CfUuRN3l8
Trump had said on Tuesday, December 16, that the intent was to blockade and stop sanctioned tankers in the Venezuela oil trade.
So far, it is unclear why this vessel was targeted. Earlier in the week, Tankertrackers.com reported that there were 38 sanctioned tankers in the waters around Venezuela, out of a total of more than 70 tankers it was able to identify in the region.
This is a breaking story and will be updated once more details are released from the United States.