Satellite Data Shows First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas.
American personnel roped onto the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service presently places the Skipper about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers 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 fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The group further stated the tanker is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
