Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Near Texas.
American personnel boarding the deck 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 reportedly transporting embargoed crude from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. The US President said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
