Satellite Data Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Currently Near Texas.
US agents boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the ship is near Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are now targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President stated 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 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
