Satellite Image Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by US is Now Off Texas.
US personnel boarding the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are currently targeting a third such ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her velocity drops”.
The group added the tanker is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.