Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas.
US agents boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. When it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are now targeting a third ship, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President 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 “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
