Satellite Image Shows First Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Off Texas.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are currently targeting a third ship, which has been identified by the risk management 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 said the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The group further stated the vessel is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
