Imagery Data Shows First Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by US is Now Off the Texas Coast.
American agents roped onto the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently positions 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 multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are now pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk 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 maritime monitoring group said 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 drops”.
The group further stated the tanker is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
