The U.S. Coast Guard stopped and boarded a Panamanian-flagged tanker carrying Venezuelan oil late Friday or early Saturday, according to a U.S. official and two people inside Venezuela’s oil industry.
All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. The boarding represents the United States’ second action this month against a tanker carrying Venezuelan crude oil to Asia, escalating President Trump’s pressure campaign against the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Mr. Trump has accused Mr. Maduro of flooding the United States with fentanyl and of stealing oil from American companies, without providing evidence.
Mr. Trump on Tuesday announced “a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela.”
But the vessel involved in the recent boarding, called the Centuries, is not on a list of tankers under U.S. sanctions that is publicly maintained by the Treasury Department. Industry sources said the cargo belongs to an established China-based oil trader with a history of taking Venezuelan crude oil to Chinese refineries.
The ship had recently left Venezuela and was in Caribbean waters.
The Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
With tensions between the United States and Venezuela rising significantly, Mr. Maduro ordered his navy to escort oil tankers leaving Venezuelan ports.
International law states a ship may be boarded if there are reasonable grounds to believe it is not legitimately registered to the state whose flag it is flying. The U.S. official said that the Coast Guard was trying to determine if the tanker’s Panama registration was valid.
Armed U.S. agents on Dec. 10 boarded and seized a tanker called the Skipper that was carrying Venezuelan oil, was flying a false flag and was under U.S. sanctions for previously carrying Iranian crude. In that case, American authorities had a seizure warrant for the Skipper signed by a federal judge, based on the vessel’s connections to Iran, which the United States has said sells oil to finance terrorism.
Industry sources said Centuries has no known connection to Iran. The ship carried fuel oil from Venezuela to China earlier this year, data from Venezuela’s state oil company shows.
Edward Wong and John Ismay contributed reporting.
Nicholas Nehamas is a Washington correspondent for The Times, focusing on the Trump administration and its efforts to transform the federal government.
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