Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Near the Texas Coast.
US personnel boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 80km from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several nations. When it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the flag of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted 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 fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
