Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Near the Texas Coast.
American agents boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are now targeting a third such ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. 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 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The group further stated the tanker is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
