Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by US is Now Near the Texas Coast.
US personnel roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is near Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are now pursuing a third such vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed decreases”.
The group added the vessel is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
