Satellite Data Shows Initial Venezuelan Tanker Seized by US is Now Near the Texas Coast.
American agents boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for reportedly carrying embargoed crude from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the ship is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are now targeting a third such ship, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
