Satellite Data Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Near the Texas Coast.
American personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly transporting sanctioned crude from Venezuela – is currently off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery dated 21 December indicates the tanker is near Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President said recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said the Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The group added the vessel is “probably heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
