Satellite Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by US is Now Off Texas.
American agents roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several governments. At the time it was seized, it was falsely flying the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are currently targeting a third vessel, which has been identified 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 “underway 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 velocity drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
