Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by US is Now Off the Texas Coast.
American personnel boarding the vessel of the Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the US for allegedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the ship is near Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic presently places the vessel about 50 miles from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several governments. At the time it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
American agencies are currently pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump said recently that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on X, the maritime monitoring 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 fuel remaining unless her velocity drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
