Satellite Image Shows First Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.
US personnel roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's satellite imagery dated 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on 10 December and has been blacklisted by multiple nations. When it was seized, it was incorrectly flying the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries. It – unlike the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel 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 added the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
