Satellite Data Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Near the Texas Coast.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are now targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
