Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Near Texas.
American agents boarding the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was falsely flying the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
