Satellite Image Shows Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Seized by American Authorities is Currently Near Texas.
American personnel boarding the vessel of the tanker Skipper on 10 December.
Orbital data and ship tracking information has verified that the crude carrier named Skipper – the initial vessel apprehended by the US for allegedly carrying sanctioned crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of the state of Texas.
Vantor orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the ship is in the vicinity of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System ship-tracking feeds from MarineTraffic currently positions the Skipper about 80km offshore.
The Skipper was seized by US authorities on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several nations. When it was intercepted, it was falsely sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was succeeded by the interception of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. It – in contrast to the first vessel – was not yet under sanctions when it was taken into US custody.
American agencies are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been identified by the maritime risk group a risk firm as the Bella 1. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the maritime monitoring group noted the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The monitoring service added the tanker is “likely heading south-east towards South Africa”.
