Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.
American personnel boarding the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly transporting embargoed oil from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently positions the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely heading south-east towards South Africa”.
