Did the White House simultaneously target China and Russia? On January 7, the U.S. military seized an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, registered in Yingkou, Liaoning Province.

On January 7, 2026, the U.S. Coast Guard conducted a high-profile maritime enforcement operation in the Caribbean Sea—forcibly boarding and detaining an oil tanker named "M Sophia." Although the vessel flew the Panamanian flag, it was registered in Yingkou, Liaoning, China.

At almost the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic, the U.S. military carried out a similar action against a Russian oil tanker originally named "Bella-1" and now known as "Marinella," resulting in a direct confrontation with a Russian submarine.

These two incidents occurring simultaneously hardly seem coincidental. After kidnapping Maduro, the White House has now targeted oil tankers from both China and Russia, indicating a carefully planned strategy. This is clearly an attempt to demonstrate globally that the United States remains the sole superpower.

"Marinella" was originally named "Bella-1," and is known to be a "shadow ship" long involved in Russian oil transport. The U.S. Coast Guard had tracked it for over two weeks before finally deploying a special maritime enforcement team, supported by a combined aerial force consisting of P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft, AC-130J gunships, and U-28A reconnaissance aircraft, to board the vessel. Notably, Russia unusually dispatched a submarine to the area to escort the ship, indicating Moscow views such actions as a direct threat to its interests. Nevertheless, the U.S. military proceeded with the operation.

Going forward, the U.S. is likely to make such "maritime enforcement" operations routine and expand their scope. Evidence suggests the U.S. is pushing allies to share intelligence on the "shadow fleet" and even considering deploying more Coast Guard forces at key nodes such as the west coast of Africa and Southeast Asia. It appears the White House is attempting to control critical maritime logistics hubs, severing the海上 transport lifelines of target nations, and demonstrating its power to the world. Who the target is, needs no explanation.