Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The group further stated the vessel is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
