Satellite Data Shows Initial Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by US is Now Near the Texas Coast.
US personnel roped onto the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for reportedly carrying embargoed crude from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are now targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted 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 remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The group further stated the vessel is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
