Imagery Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by US is Now Near the Texas Coast.
US agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December shows 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 Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. At the time it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are currently targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
