Imagery Image Shows First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. It – unlike the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are now targeting a third vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
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 “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
