Satellite Image Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Near Texas.
US agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from a maritime data service presently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are now pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel 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 velocity drops”.
The monitoring service added the vessel is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
