Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by US is Now Near Texas.
US personnel boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently positions the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are now pursuing a third such vessel, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The group added the tanker is “probably heading south-east towards South Africa”.
