Imagery Data Shows Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by US is Now Off the Texas Coast.
US agents boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the flag of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the 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 fuel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The group further stated the tanker is “likely traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
