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US President Donald Trump - AP Photo International media reports indicate that US military has boarded a vessel off the coast of Venezuela.
The report comes days after the US intercepted and seized a sanctioned oil tanker on December 10.
A Reuters report said confirmation came from three US officials. An Associated Press report described the military action as a "consented boarding."
This is the second time in weeks that the US has seized vessels coming out of Venezuela.
On December 16, US President Donald Trump threatened a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela as part of pressure on the Venezuelan government.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “It will only get bigger…”
His comments came after the December 10 seizure of an oil tanker, which the US government said was sanctioned for its connections to Iran.
Since the US imposed energy sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, traders and refiners buying Venezuelan oil have resorted to a "shadow fleet" of tankers that disguise their location and to vessels sanctioned for transporting Iranian or Russian oil.
The dark or shadow fleet is considered exposed to possible punitive measures from the US, shipping analysts have said.
As of this week, of more than 70 oil tankers in Venezuelan waters that are part of the shadow fleet, around 38 are under sanctions by the US Treasury, according to data from TankerTrackers.com.
Of those, at least 15 are loaded with crude and fuel, it added.
Reuters reported that since December 16, loaded vessels with millions of barrels of oil remained in Venezuelan waters rather than risk seizure.
Trump also alleged that Venezuela "stole" assets from the US when it began to nationalise its petroleum industry.
Venezuela made moves to nationalise the sector in the 1970s and again in the 21st century under Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
The Venezuelan government offered compensation, but it was deemed insufficient by an international arbitration panel and ordered Venezuela to pay US$1.6 billion to ExxonMobil.
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