Satellite Data Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Off the Texas Coast.
American personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries tanker. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third such ship, which has been identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The group added the tanker is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
