Satellite Image Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Seized by US is Now Off the Texas Coast.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was falsely flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are now pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The group added the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
