BREAKING: U.S. Seizes Second Venezeula-Linked Oil Tanker Wednesday Morning
The United States seized a second Venezuela-linked oil tanker early Wednesday.
The action followed an earlier seizure involving a Russian-flagged tanker that had been pursued for more than two weeks across the Atlantic Ocean.
U.S. officials said the first vessel had been shadowed by a Russian submarine before it was taken into U.S. custody, Reuters reported.
Later Wednesday morning, a second ship was seized by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Reuters reported the Venezuela-linked tanker was taken in the Caribbean before dawn.
The vessel was identified as the Panama-flagged supertanker M/T Sophia.
U.S. Southern Command described the ship as a “stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker.”
In a pre-dawn action this morning, the Department of War, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, apprehended a stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker without incident.
The interdicted vessel, M/T Sophia, was operating in international waters and… pic.twitter.com/JQm9gHprPk
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) January 7, 2026
Southern Command said the Coast Guard was escorting the M/T Sophia to the U.S.
According to Reuters, the tanker departed Venezuelan waters this past week.
The ship was traveling as part of a fleet carrying Venezuelan oil to China while operating in “dark mode” with its transponder turned off.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shared a video of the second tanker on X later Wednesday.
In two predawn operations today, the Coast Guard conducted back-to-back meticulously coordinated boarding of two “ghost fleet” tanker ships— one in the North Atlantic Sea and one in international waters near the Caribbean. Both vessels —the Motor Tanker Bella I and the Motor… pic.twitter.com/cFuNDtYR8n
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) January 7, 2026
“In two predawn operations today, the Coast Guard conducted back-to-back meticulously coordinated boarding of two ‘ghost fleet’ tanker ships,” Noem commented on X.
She said the vessels were either last docked in Venezuela or en route there, adding, “You can run, but you can’t hide.”
“The world’s criminals are on notice,” she concluded. “We will never relent in our mission to protect the American people and disrupt the funding of narco terrorism wherever we find it, period.”
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