Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Currently Near Texas.
US personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are currently targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers 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 fuel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The group further stated the vessel is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
