Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Currently Near Texas.
US agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker 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 carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is near Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are currently targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The group added the tanker is “likely heading south-east towards South Africa”.
