Satellite Data Shows First Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Near the Texas Coast.
US agents roped onto the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are now pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “underway 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 group further stated the tanker is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
