Satellite Data Reveals First Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by US is Now Off the Texas Coast.
American personnel boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently places the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are now targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The group further stated the tanker is “probably heading south-east towards South Africa”.