Imagery Image Shows First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas.
US personnel boarding the deck of the tanker 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 transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near 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 presently positions the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are currently targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
