Satellite Image Reveals First Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Now Near the Texas Coast.
US agents roped onto the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly transporting embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
