Imagery Image Shows First Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Now Off Texas.
American agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery from 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. At the time it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “likely traveling south-east towards South Africa”.