Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Off Texas.
US agents roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. It – unlike the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are now targeting a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.