Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Near Texas.
US personnel roped onto the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “probably heading south-east towards the South African coast”.
