This video does not show US seizing the Russian-Flagged oil tanker

This is an old video and it shows a joint military exercise between the US and the Philippines.

The United States has seized a Russian-flagged, Iran-linked oil tanker in the north Atlantic Ocean on 7 January 2026. The operation was led by the Department of Homeland Security and supported by American military personnel. Against this backdrop, a video showing persons in army uniforms in helicopters taking control of boats at sea is going viral on social media with the claim that it shows US special forces seizing an Iranian-linked oil tanker. The caption of the post states, “This is the moment US Special Forces successfully boarded the RUSSIAN -flagged Iranian-linked oil tanker, Marinera, in the Atlantic Ocean”.

Let’s check the truth

Facebook Post| Archive link

Fact Check- 

We started our investigation by running a reverse image search on Google and the results led us to a similar video uploaded on YouTube on 29 May 2025. The description states, “U.S. Naval Special Warfare and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment operate in formation during casualty evacuation hoist training in Subic Bay, Philippines during Exercise Balikatan 25, April 22, 2025”. This indicates that the video is old and not related to the recent seizure of Iran-linked tanker.

Moving forward, we found the video on the official site of US Army Europe and Africa, the branch that oversees operations and exercises in Europe and Africa. It was published on 6 May, 2025. According to the information provided on the website, the video does depict the casualty evacuation hoist training in Subic Bay, Philippines, during Exercise Balikatan 25 on April 22, 2025.

The same video published on the official website of Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS). It is also mentioned on the website that Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the US military designed to strengthen the alliance, improve the combined force, and demonstrate to the region security and stability.

So, the viral video does not show US forces taking control of an Iranian or Iran-linked oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be False. This is an old video and it shows a joint military exercise between the US and the Philippines.