Satellite Data Shows First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Now Off the Texas Coast.
American personnel boarding the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now pursuing a third vessel, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “probably heading south-east towards the South African coast”.
