Imagery Image Shows Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas.
US personnel boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “probably heading south-east towards South Africa”.
