Satellite Data Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Near Texas.
American agents boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the ship is near Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “probably heading south-east towards South Africa”.
