US seizes another ship off the coast of Venezuela

The US Coast Guard seized another ship off the coast of Venezuela on Saturday. American Secretary of Homeland Security Kristie Noem confirmed this, after reports from various American media. She shared one video showing American soldiers boarding the ship by helicopter.

The ship in question would be called Centuries, a tanker that can carry up to 2 million barrels of oil. Report that The New York Times and Bloomberg based on shipping sources. The oil tanker sails under the flag of Panama and was carrying Venezuelan oil, the media reported.

The tanker is not on a US sanctions list. Last Tuesday, the US announced it would sanction a list of oil ships in order to deny them access to Venezuela. US President Donald Trump spoke of a “complete or total blockade”.

The Venezuelan government has strongly condemned the US action. Caracas spoke in a statement of “a serious act of piracy” and stated that “these acts will not go unpunished.”

It is the second time in less than two weeks that the United States has seized a ship off the coast of Venezuela. On December 10, US soldiers descended from two Black Hawk helicopters onto the deck of the 333-metre oil tanker Skipper and took control of the ship. That tanker is said to have transported Iranian and Venezuelan oil, including for Cuba.

Intercepting the ships is seen as a way for the Americans to increase pressure on the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump argues that drug smuggling from Venezuela poses a threat to the national security of the United States.

Oil is the main source of income for Venezuela and is transported almost exclusively by sea. A maritime blockade is therefore seen as an effective means of restricting exports. In Venezuela, it is said that the Americans are mainly after the large oil reserves of the country, which has 17 percent of the world’s oil reserves.

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