Imagery Image Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by US is Currently Near the Texas Coast.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently positions the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are currently targeting a third ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
