Satellite Image Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.
American agents boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has confirmed that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial 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 satellite imagery from 21 December indicates the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic presently places the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are currently targeting a third such ship, 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 TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of diesel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
