Satellite Data Reveals Initial Venezuela-Linked Tanker Confiscated by American Authorities is Currently Off Texas.
US agents roped onto the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and vessel monitoring information has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the US for reportedly carrying embargoed crude from the Venezuelan regime – is currently positioned near of Texas.
Vantor satellite imagery from 21 December shows the ship is near Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from MarineTraffic currently places the vessel about 80km from the coast.
The tanker Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been blacklisted by several governments. At the time it was seized, it was falsely sailing under the ensign of Guyana.
This interception was followed by the capture of a another oil vessel, the Centuries tanker. This ship – in contrast to the first vessel – was not under official restrictions when it was brought under American control.
US authorities are now pursuing a third such ship, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated recently that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on the social media platform X, the TankerTrackers group said the vessel Bella 1 has been “in transit for over a month” and, at an typical pace of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of fuel left unless her speed drops”.
The monitoring service further stated the vessel is “likely heading in a southeasterly direction towards the South African coast”.
