Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Now Off Texas.
US personnel roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers 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 decreases”.
The group further stated the tanker is “likely heading south-east towards the South African coast”.
