Satellite Image Reveals First Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by US is Currently Near Texas.
US personnel boarding the deck of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring data has confirmed that the oil tanker named Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting sanctioned oil from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs from 21 December shows the tanker is near the port of Galveston, while AIS vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on 10 December and has been sanctioned by several governments. When it was seized, it was falsely flying the ensign of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not yet under official restrictions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. President Donald Trump said yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group noted the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “approximately a month of diesel left unless her velocity decreases”.
The group further stated the tanker is “likely heading south-east towards South Africa”.
