Imagery Data Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Near the Texas Coast.
American personnel boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 80km offshore.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed decreases”.
The group added the tanker is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
