Imagery Data Shows First Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas.
American agents roped onto the deck of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike 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 identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her velocity drops”.
The group further stated the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
