Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.
US agents roped onto the deck of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. It – unlike the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are currently targeting a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her velocity decreases”.
The group added the tanker is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
