The United States Armed Forces conducted an armed takeover of a large tanker in international waters, the Centuries, which was carrying up to two million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil to China. Coast Guard and Navy forces operating with MH-60T helicopters, and reportedly including a Maritime Security Response Team, spearheaded the takeover.
The oil was owned by the China-based firm VSatau Tijana Oil Trading. The Centuries is the third civilian ship that American forces have launched operations against in international waters this month, in what legal experts have widely regarded as gross violations of international law.
U.S. Coast Guard Prepare For Armed Takeover of the Centuries Tanker
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the operation as a serious violation of international maritime law and an illegal interference in legitimate global trade. The Venezuelan government also denounced the seizure, again accusing the United States of conducting piracy at sea.
China has perceived a considerable threat from the United States and other Western Bloc countries using their large presences in maritime commons to halt civilian trade, potentially cutting China off not only from vital energy imports, and from maritime trade more broadly.
American Buddhist Net 