Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas.
US personnel roped onto the deck of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is currently positioned near of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is near the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several governments. At the time it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are currently targeting a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely heading south-east towards the South African coast”.
