Satellite Image Shows Initial Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Currently Near the Texas Coast.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the ship is near Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently positions the vessel about 50 miles offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on 10 December and has been blacklisted by several governments. When it was intercepted, it was falsely flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now targeting a third such ship, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel remaining unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
