Imagery Image Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by US is Now Off Texas.
US agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are currently targeting a third ship, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed decreases”.
The group added the vessel is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
