Satellite Data Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by US is Now Near the Texas Coast.
US agents boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.