Imagery Data Shows Initial Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Near Texas.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from Venezuela – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
