Satellite Data Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by US is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
American agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several governments. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third vessel, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her velocity drops”.
The group added the vessel is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
