Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Near Texas.
American personnel boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the ship is near the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from a maritime data service presently positions the vessel about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are now targeting a third vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk 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 Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
