Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Now Off Texas.
American agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
American agencies are now pursuing a third vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers 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 speed decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
