Satellite Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by US is Now Near Texas.
US personnel roped onto the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly carrying sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service currently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several nations. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely heading south-east towards South Africa”.
