Imagery Image Shows First Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Now Off Texas.
American agents roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring data has verified that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently off the coast of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several nations. At the time it was intercepted, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
American agencies are now pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said 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 left unless her speed decreases”.
The group further stated the vessel is “probably heading south-east towards the South African coast”.
