New York Post
@nypost·2.4M subscribers·43.2K videos
US Forces Seize Sanctioned Russian-flagged Oil Tanker That Slipped Through Venezuela Blockade
Posted
January 8, 2026
Views
27,811
Likes
288
Comments
88
Engagement
January 8, 2026
27,811
288
88
1.35%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
5:34Now PlayingTwo so-called “dark fleet” oil tankers were boarded and seized by US forces after one of the ships eluded a blockade around Venezuela, changed its name, and reflagged itself as a Russian vessel in a failed two-week long chase to evade capture.
Heart pumping video posted on X by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem captured a morning raid on Jan. 7, when US Coast Guard personnel boarded two “ghost fleet” tanker ships.
According to US European Command, one of the ships, known as Bella 1, was seized after it was spotted off Venezuela’s coast — dodging a sweeping Trump-imposed US quarantine of vessels transporting oil to and from the South American country. The second tanker, the M/T Sophia, was boarded near the Caribbean Sea while en route to Venezuela, and sailing under a Panamanian flag. According to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, both ships were quote: “either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it.”
Read more at
The New York Post is your source for breaking news, news about New York, sports, business, entertainment, opinion, real estate, culture, fashion, and more.
Check out our three new podcasts:
NYNext (week)
Pod Force One with MIranda Devine (weekly)
NY POSTcast (daily)
Get The Post’s latest headlines everyday with our Morning Report newsletter:
Catch the latest news at
Follow The New York Post on:
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
