Satellite Data Shows First Venezuelan Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Off Texas.
US agents roped onto the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and ship tracking data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from a maritime data service presently places the Skipper about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are currently targeting a third ship, which has been identified by the risk management group Vanguard as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group said 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 diesel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The group added the tanker is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
