Satellite Data Shows First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Near Texas.
American agents boarding the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. At the time it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are currently pursuing 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 said the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
