Satellite Data Shows First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Near Texas.
US agents roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the ship is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service currently places the Skipper about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
