Satellite Data Reveals First Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by US is Currently Off Texas.
US personnel roped onto the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 80km offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her velocity drops”.
The group further stated the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
