Satellite Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas.
American agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly transporting embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 80km from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are now pursuing a third vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted 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 decreases”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
