Satellite Image Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by US is Now Near the Texas Coast.
US personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for allegedly transporting embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned 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 interception of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are currently targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring 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 fuel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The group further stated the vessel is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
