Satellite Data Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Near Texas.
American personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are now pursuing a third vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
