Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Near Texas.
US personnel roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for reportedly carrying sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 80km offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several governments. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are now pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her speed decreases”.
The group further stated the vessel is “probably heading south-east towards South Africa”.
