Satellite Image Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. At the time it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. It – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
