Imagery Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Now Near the Texas Coast.
American agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly transporting embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several nations. When it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably heading south-east towards South Africa”.
