Satellite Data Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by US is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several nations. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are currently targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
