Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Off Texas.
US agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently positions the vessel about 80km offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several nations. At the time it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are currently targeting a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring 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 fuel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
