Satellite Data Shows Initial Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by US is Now Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
