Imagery Image Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by American Authorities is Now Off Texas.
American agents roped onto the deck of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking information has confirmed that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December indicates the ship is near the port of Galveston, while AIS ship-tracking data from a maritime data service presently positions the vessel about 80km offshore.
The tanker Skipper was seized by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several governments. At the time it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a second tanker, the Centuries tanker. It – unlike the Skipper – was not under sanctions when it was taken into American control.
US authorities are now pursuing a third ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “underway for 39 days” 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 monitoring service further stated the vessel is “probably traveling south-east towards South Africa”.
