Satellite Data Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by US is Currently Off Texas.
American personnel roped onto the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several nations. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are now pursuing a third such vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The group added the vessel is “likely heading south-east towards the South African coast”.
