Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Off Texas.
US agents boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
