Imagery Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by US is Now Off Texas.
US agents roped onto the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. It – unlike the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are now pursuing a third ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The group added the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
