Satellite Data Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by US is Now Near Texas.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of 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 interception was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel 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 diesel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “probably traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
