Satellite Image Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.
US agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for allegedly transporting embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring 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 left unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
