Imagery Image Shows First Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Near Texas.
American personnel roped onto the deck of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently places the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by several nations. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are currently targeting a third vessel, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
