Imagery Data Shows Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by US is Currently Near the Texas Coast.
US personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is near Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several nations. At the time it was seized, it was falsely flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The group further stated the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
