Satellite Image Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Near Texas.
American agents roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly carrying embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently positions the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are now targeting a third such ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. 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 over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed decreases”.
The group added the vessel is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
