Satellite Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Off Texas.
US agents boarding the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for reportedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently positions 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 sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are currently targeting a third ship, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed drops”.
The group added the vessel is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
