Imagery Image Shows First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel boarding the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from a maritime data service presently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. When it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. It – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are currently targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed decreases”.
The group further stated the tanker is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
