Imagery Data Shows Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Near the Texas Coast.
US personnel boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several governments. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third such ship, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The group added the vessel is “probably traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
