Imagery Data Shows First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by US is Currently Near the Texas Coast.
American personnel boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are now targeting a third vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit 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 speed decreases”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “probably heading south-east towards the South African coast”.
