LATIN AMERICA - On December 20, the United States Coast Guard, supported by the Department of War, conducted a pre-dawn operation to board and apprehend the Panama-flagged oil tanker Centuries in international waters east of Barbados in the Caribbean Sea.
The vessel had recently loaded crude oil in Venezuela and was en route to Asian markets.
This operation marks the second such interdiction in December, following the seizure of a sanctioned tanker earlier in the month. It aligns with announced U.S. measures targeting vessels associated with Venezuelan oil exports.
The Centuries carried approximately 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan Merey crude oil. It operated under a false name during loading in Venezuela and is associated with shadow fleet practices.
Unlike the prior interdicted vessel, the Centuries does not appear on U.S. Treasury Department sanctions lists.
This distinction highlights potential expansion of enforcement to non-sanctioned vessels recently involved in Venezuelan trade.
CARIBBEAN - According to U.S. Southern Command, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere struck a go-fast vessel, a small fast boat, in the Caribbean on October 4.
CARIBBEAN SEA - Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere carried out a lethal kinetic strike on September 9 against a go-fast vessel, a small high-speed boat, on routes the command called established narco-trafficking lanes in the Caribbean.
EASTERN PACIFIC - U.S. Southern Command said Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere forces on September 7 interdicted a vessel the command described as a floating refueling station supporting at-sea drug trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.
EASTERN PACIFIC - On August 23, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere carried out a strike on a low-profile vessel operating along routes SOUTHCOM described as established narco-trafficking routes, according to U.S. Southern Command.
