Imagery Image Shows First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas.
US agents roped onto the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the vessel about 80km offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third such ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
