Satellite Image Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by US is Now Near the Texas Coast.
US personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for reportedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December shows the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several nations. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
