Imagery Image Reveals First Venezuelan Tanker Seized by American Authorities is Now Off the Texas Coast.
American personnel roped onto the vessel of the tanker Skipper on December 10th.
Orbital data and vessel monitoring information has confirmed that the oil tanker Skipper – the initial vessel seized by the United States for allegedly carrying embargoed oil from the Venezuelan regime – is now off the coast of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December indicates the tanker is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking data from a maritime data service currently places the Skipper about 50 miles from the coast.
The Skipper was taken into custody by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by multiple governments. When it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the flag of Guyana.
This interception was succeeded by the interception of a another tanker, the Centuries. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was brought under US custody.
US authorities are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that “it will ultimately be secured”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for 39 days” and, at an average speed of 11 nautical miles per hour, may have “another 28 to 35 days of fuel left unless her velocity drops”.
The group added the vessel is “probably traveling in a southeasterly direction towards South Africa”.
