Imagery Data Shows First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by US is Currently Off Texas.
American agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly transporting embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service presently positions the Skipper about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
