Imagery Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Currently Near Texas.
US personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service currently places the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are now targeting a third ship, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
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 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
