Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by US is Now Near Texas.
US agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a another tanker, 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 now pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on 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 “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
