Satellite Data Shows Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by US is Now Off Texas.
US agents roped onto the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are now targeting a third ship, which has been identified by the risk management 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 Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The group added the vessel is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.