Imagery Data Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Near the Texas Coast.
American personnel boarding 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 allegedly carrying embargoed crude from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service presently places the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several nations. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are currently targeting a third such ship, which has been named by the risk management 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 “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.