Imagery Data Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Near the Texas Coast.
American agents roped onto 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 seized by the US for allegedly transporting embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are currently targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably heading south-east towards South Africa”.
