Satellite Data Reveals First Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Near Texas.
American personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are currently targeting a third such vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group noted 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 diesel left unless her speed drops”.
The group further stated the tanker is “likely traveling south-east towards the South African coast”.
