US forces on Wednesday seized crude oil tanker MT Sophia (IMO: 9289477) in the Caribbean Sea for illegally transporting sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
Visuals released by the US Southern Command show helicopters hovering over the MT Sophia as it was seized by its personnel "without incident".
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.
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) January 7, 2026
The interdicted vessel, M/T Sophia, was operating in international waters and… pic.twitter.com/JQm9gHprPk
The Panamanian-flagged oil tanker had reportedly switched off its AIS transponder for about five months before it was seized by the US Southern Command.
Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders enable vessels to share their position, identification, and other important details with other vessels and coastal authorities across the world.
In most cases, turning off AIS transponders is a maritime crime under the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations upheld by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
In that regard, the US has called the MT Sophia a "stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker", adding that the vessel was taken over as a part of Operation Southern Spear.
Announced by the Donald Trump administration's defence secretary Pete Hegseth, Operation Southern Spear is a US military operation that targets “narco-terrorist” organisations and aims to dismantle illegal drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere.
The MT Sophia is the latest in a series of sanctioned dark fleet vessels to be apprehended by US forces under this operation, hours after the seizure of the oil tanker Marinera, formerly called Bella 1, when it had been sailing in Icelandic waters on Wednesday.
This seizure supports @POTUS Proclamation targeting sanctioned vessels that threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere. The operation was executed by DHS components with support from @DeptofWar, showcasing a whole-of-government approach to protect the homeland.
— U.S. European Command (@US_EUCOM) January 7, 2026
The vessel, which recently re-registered itself under the Russian flag, had been avoiding a US blockade—targeting sanctioned oil shipments in and out of Venezuela—for more than two weeks.
The Marinera was also of interest to Russian authorities, which urged the US to stop tracking it, and later even deployed a submarine and other naval assets to guide the vessel to safety.
The capture of the vessel despite that is expected to worsen tensions between Washington and Moscow, as it is the first Russian-flagged vessel seized by the US military.
The Marinera was sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2024 for transporting illicit cargo linked to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group.
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