Imagery Image Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by US is Currently Off Texas.
American personnel roped onto the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting embargoed crude from Venezuela – is currently off the coast of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the tanker is near Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently positions the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are currently targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
