Satellite Data Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is near Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the flag of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are now targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
