Satellite Image Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Off Texas.
US agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for reportedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now pursuing a third such vessel, 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 X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
