Imagery Data Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Now Off the Texas Coast.
US agents boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently positions the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are currently targeting a third vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
