Satellite Data Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas.
American agents boarding the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is near 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 seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are currently targeting a third vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably heading south-east towards the South African coast”.