Satellite Data Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.
US agents boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting embargoed crude from Venezuela – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are currently targeting a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
