Satellite Data Shows Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Currently Near Texas.
US agents boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are currently targeting a third such ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “probably heading south-east towards the South African coast”.
