Satellite Data Shows First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Now Off Texas.
US personnel boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently positions the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The group added the tanker is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
