Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Off Texas.
US agents boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly transporting embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her speed decreases”.
The group added the tanker is “likely heading south-east towards the South African coast”.
