Satellite Image Shows First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by US is Currently Near the Texas Coast.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently positions the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several nations. When it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the flag of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her speed drops”.
The group added the vessel is “likely traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
