Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Near Texas.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently positions the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several nations. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are now targeting a third such ship, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The group added the vessel is “likely heading south-east towards South Africa”.
