Imagery Image Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Now Off the Texas Coast.
US agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded 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 brought under American control.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The group added the vessel is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
