Imagery Data Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas.
US personnel boarding the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are now pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The group further stated the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
