Satellite Data Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service presently positions the vessel about 80km offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are now 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 TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “likely heading south-east towards the South African coast”.
