Imagery Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by US is Currently Off Texas.
US personnel boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the oil tanker Skipper – the first vessel seized by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking feeds from a maritime data service currently positions the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. When it was intercepted, it was incorrectly flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries. This ship – in contrast to 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 identified by the risk management group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service further stated the tanker is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
