Imagery Image Shows First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by US is Now Off the Texas Coast.
US agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group noted the vessel 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 vessel is “likely traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
