Satellite Data Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from Venezuela – is now off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently places the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. It – unlike the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed drops”.
The group further stated the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
