The U.S. military detained an oil tanker that departed from China in the Caribbean Sea has drawn attention.

On January 21, the U.S. military detained another oil tanker, which had departed from China in December last year! This situation has now escalated significantly.

That morning, the U.S. Southern Command released a statement: the U.S. military detained an oil tanker named "Sagitarius" in the Caribbean Sea. The ship flew the flag of Liberia and was originally scheduled to transport heavy crude oil from Venezuela, but it was identified by the U.S. as a sanctioned entity.

The vessel set sail from a Chinese port in December last year — this timing and departure point have made the incident no longer just a bilateral confrontation between the U.S. and Venezuela, but also involved a broader global shipping network, especially commercial entities related to China.

Since the launch of the so-called "Southern Spear Operation" in 2023, the U.S. has detained a total of seven oil tankers, four of which have been classified into the "shadow fleet." The "shadow fleet" refers to vessels that evade U.S. interception through means such as changing their flag state, obscuring ownership structures, and disabling automatic identification systems (AIS). Such operations are not uncommon in global energy trade, particularly in the crude oil exports of countries like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela.

It is foreseeable that the U.S. will not stop such maritime law enforcement actions. With the delicate changes in relations between Venezuela and the U.S., and the continued pressure on Russian energy exports, Washington may institutionalize the "Southern Spear Operation," even expanding it to other seas. At the same time, the technical methods of the shadow fleet are also upgrading, such as using satellite communications instead of AIS and adopting blockchain to record cargo rights transfers, to increase the difficulty of tracking.

Dao Ge thinks that, if we want to deal with similar incidents, the focus may not be on verbal protests, but rather on detaining U.S. cargo ships for countermeasures under certain reasons. Even at times, it might be considered to dispatch escort fleets to the Caribbean Sea. Even if no fleet is dispatched, it can still be used as a reason for negotiation by making a show of strength.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1854889988504576/

Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.