Satellite Data Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by US is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
American personnel boarding the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly carrying embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently positions the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third such ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.