Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Off Texas.
US personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are currently targeting a third such vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
