Imagery Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
US agents boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently positions the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel 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 left unless her velocity decreases”.
The group added the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
