Satellite Image Shows First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by US is Currently Off Texas.
American agents boarding the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is near Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are now pursuing a third ship, 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 X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed decreases”.
The group added the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
