Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by US is Now Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
