Satellite Data Shows First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Now Off Texas.
American personnel boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third vessel, which has been identified 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 said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The group further stated the vessel is “probably traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
