Imagery Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Near Texas.
American agents roped onto the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
