New footage shows the US Coast Guard boarding two Venezuela tankers in “back-to-back” operations in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean. Video released by the White House on Wednesday (7 January) appears to show forces intercepting the oil tanker Marinera between Iceland and Scotland following a two-week pursuit as it headed towards Russia. US forces said they also seized the M/T Sophia near the northeast coast of South America in a pre-dawn raid. The operations took place within hours of each other, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. The alleged “ghost fleet” tankers were “either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it”, Noem said.

A U.S. official says U.S. forces have boarded a Venezuela-linked sanctioned oil tanker in North Atlantic after pursuing it for weeks.

Russian submarine and warship are in the vicinity as the US operation unfolds, news report says.