Satellite Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are now pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
